Kentucky reliever Tyler Guilfoil retired 12 of the 13 hitters he faced to end the game, as the Wildcats closed out Vanderbilt by a 3-2 score at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Matthew Polk's home run off starter Zack Lee in the fourth provided Vandy's only runs. But in the bottom of the inning, Kentucky's Adam Fogel connected with a two run blast off Carter Holton to tie the game

An inning later, Nolan McCarthy led off with a single against Holton and came around on Ryan Ritter's RBI single with one out.

Vanderbilt (27-11, 8-9 Southeastern Conference) struck the ball well in the first four innings off Lee but had nothing to show with it until Polk lined a homer (scoring Parker Noland) over the 335-foot wall in left.

Dominic Keegan doubled to lead off the sixth and then Lee hit Calvin Hewett with a pitch, as Kentucky (22-18, 6-9-11) summoned Guilfoil--the best remaining pitcher off an injury-depleted staff--to get out of the jam.

Guilfoil--a Lipscomb transfer--did that perfectly. Tate Kolwyck bunted the ball to first baseman Jacob Plastiak, who cut Keegan down at third. After Noland flied out, Guilfoil fanned Polk to end the inning.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. led off the seventh and stole second and third with out out, but he'd be the last base runner the Commodores had all day.

By that time, Guilfoil's fastball was too much to handle as Kentucky's right-hander struck out four of the final eight hitters he faced, getting infield pop-ups with the other three and a harmless fly ball to center from Noland on the other out.

Vandy had chances against Lee, who'd made two starts and thrown 14 2/3 innings coming in. Jones and Noland had two-out doubles in the first and second but each was left stranded.

In the third, Bradfield had a one-out single and again swiped two bags but failed to score.

Kentucky managed just eight runners against Holton (five innings, four hits, a walk and a hit batsman and three strikeouts) and Patrick Reilly (four innings, no hits, a walk and a hit batter).

Holton pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth to end his day, while Jones's dropped fly ball in right gave Kentucky a man on second with one out that, after an intentional walk to Fogel, Reilly escaped with a strikeout of Plastiak.

Kentucky’s Alonzo Rubalcaba snapped Vanderbilt’s string of 17 1/3 hitless innings with a third-inning double off Holton. Fogel’s home run in the next inning was the first run the staff allowed since the 10th (and last) inning of Sunday’s Florida game, spanning Vandy’s shutout of Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.

Kentucky evened the series at a game apiece, with the final game coming on Sunday at noon Central.