Vanderbilt hands Kentucky another rubber-match loss

The Wildcats’ games on Sundays at Kentucky Proud Park are designated country music days for the fans’ entertainment between innings.

It might be time to adopt Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” as a fitting ode to being down on their luck.

Kentucky lost a Sunday rubber-match game for the fifth consecutive weekend in SEC play, falling 13-6 to Vanderbilt on a day mired with self-inflicted mistakes.

“It’s like every Sunday, it’s something different,” UK head coach Nick Mingione said. “… (Vandy) got two big innings in this game, and we didn’t, and that was clearly the difference.”

Batting ninth in the Commodores’ lineup, Will Hampton hit a grand slam as part of a six-run sixth inning to highlight the win for a Vanderbilt (24-17, 9-9 SEC) team trying to fend off NCAA bubble talk.

Hampton, a sophomore outfielder, entered the game with only four at-bats on the season and no home runs. In another twist of fate, he was not in the Dores’ original starting lineup.

To underscore Kentucky’s misfortune, it was a swing that never should have happened. The Wildcats’ Nile Adcock had struck out the previous batter, Korbin Reynolds, to seemingly record the third out, but the batter was able to take first base on a wild pitch to extend the inning.

Earlier in the sixth, Vandy’s Colin Barczi hit a two-run home run deep over the left-field wall to erase UK’s 3-1 lead.

Kentucky (26-12, 8-10 SEC) put itself in position for another disappointing Sunday by failing to execute at the plate. The Cats scored only two runs after loading the bases in each of the first two innings and stranded an astounding 13 runners through six frames. They finished with 16 LOB, going 2-for-11 with two outs.

“We had a ton of traffic,” Mingione said. “We got started out of the gates just like we were supposed to, did exactly the game plan, but we just couldn’t get the timely hit. We had multiple chances to put this game away, offensively, and we just didn’t do it.”

Leading just 7-6 going to the ninth, Vandy tacked on six insurance runs to blow the game open.

Junior outfielder Braden Holcomb had three hits, including a pair of doubles, to lead a 12-hit day for the Commodores.

Kentucky has now surrendered 58 total runs in its last five games played on Sunday.

The Cats played without three of their top players. Preseason All-American shortstop Tyler Bell was serving a one-game suspension from the SEC after being ejected from Saturday’s 8-7 loss. First baseman and cleanup hitter missed his seventh straight game while dealing with an illness. And expected starting pitcher Nate Harris was scratched prior to the game with soreness in his right shoulder.

Connor Mattison (2-1) turned in a solid start in Harris’ absence, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk over 5.1 innings to give UK a chance. The junior right-hander struck out five.

Vandy’s Aiden Stillman (2-1) earned the win out of the bullpen, working around one hit, three walks, and two hit batsmen over two innings. It was only the fourth appearance of the season for the freshman left-hander.

Up Next

Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday at Louisville in the second game of the annual home-and-home series. The Wildcats won the first meeting, 4-2, on April 7 at Kentucky Proud Park. First pitch for the Cats and Cards is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Patterson Stadium.

FINAL: Vanderbilt 13, Kentucky 6

Cats lose 5th straight Sunday rubber-match game, fall to 8-10 in SEC play. UK has surrendered 58 runs in its last 5 games on Sunday. Today, they also left an eye-popping 16 runners stranded on base. pic.twitter.com/bOauzO4sd4

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) April 19, 2026