NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt's Alan Espinal singled in Matthew Polk in the ninth, capping off a 3-2 comeback win over Kentucky at Hawkins Field on Sunday afternoon.

Espinal smoked a 3-2 breaking pitch from Ryder Giles to the gap in left-center and then was mobbed in the infield by teammates. Vandy's backup catcher got the rare weekend start in place of Jack Bulger, its cleanup hitter who went 1-for-4 in Saturday's win.

"He's a good catcher and a good player and the only way he's going to get better is if he gets out there,," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. "You could let the same lineup go and you could play it safe but at the same time, play it safe with him too. He can do some things well and he did."

Corbin said he didn't consider pinch-hitting for Espinal in the ninth.

It made a winner of Jack Anderson, who navigated a two-on one-out situation in the top of the inning to keep the Commodores within 2-1, even though Corbin clarified that closer Nick Maldonado was available.

Grayson Moore also added a scoreless inning in the eighth even though Corbin said closer Maldonado was available. Moore had not thrown since March 14 due to an undisclosed injury.

"Had we gone back out with a tie or had we gone into the ninth inning with a one-run lead, [Maldonado] would have come in," Corbin said. "But at that point right there, we thought those two guys could settle them down."

Vanderbilt (32-11, 16-5 Southeastern Conference) swept the Wildcats and maintained sole possession of first place in the league, a half-game over second-place LSU (35-8, 15-5).

Vandy entered the ninth with just five hits, but Parker Noland lined a single to left on a 3-1 pitch to lead off the ninth off Kentucky ace reliever Ryan Hagenow, who entered the game with a 1.04 ERA in 17 1/3 innings and had just thrown a scoreless eighth.

Vanderbilt then had Polk bunting but on a 1-1 count, changed strategies and had him swing away. Polk lined the next pitch for a double into the left-field corner to put two in scoring position.

With another 1-1 count, Jonathan Vastine ripped a ball off Hagenow that glanced to his right. Everyone was safe and after a mound conference, Hagenow appeared to be feeling enough pain that Kentucky removed him and went to Giles, a righty with a low arm slot and a preference for throwing off speed pitches in the high-60s.

Espinal watched two outside, took an off-speed pitch delivered at 67 inside, took another at 69 that was called a strike off the outside corner. He then fouled off another (68), took an 83-mile-an-hour fastball outside and then hammered a 70-mile-an-hour offering to the gap to deliver victory.

"[Hitting coach Mike Baxter] told me to try to sit off-speed when I told him I was looking for the fastball," Espinal said, just before being doused with a bucket of ice water, when asked what he was expecting on the final pitch. "So I continued looking for that."

"I knew I had to look for that curve ball and he threw it to me, so I just reacted to that," he continued.

"He's highly respected because he cares about everyone," Corbin said. "He celebrates every little thing everyone does in the program. He's certainly what you're looking for in a teammate."

Kentucky scored the first and sixth and held that 2-1 lead heading into the ninth. Vandy's only run before that came when Polk doubled in Chris Maldonado in the fourth. Polk had two of Vandy's 10 hits and two of its extra-base hits, which was one reason Corbin didn't pull him for defensive replacement Calvin Hewett around the seventh inning as he customarily does.

Lefty Devin Futrell pitched well (six innings, two strikeouts, two runs, both earned) but for much of the afternoon, it seemed futile given the way the Wildcats were pitching. Kentucky starter Zack Lee was excellent, allowing one run in five innings while allowing just six runners.

Futrell hit Jackson Gray with the first pitch and walked Ryan Waldschmidt next, but got out of it with just a run allowed on a wind-aided sacrifice fly to deep center by Hunter Gilliam.

Futrell’s fastball topped out at 88-89 early and complemented that with a change-up and occasional curve. He didn’t get his third swing-and-miss until pitch 30, which came on an 88-mile-an-hour fastball that struck out Nolan McCarthy for the second out of the second.

Vandy tied it in the fourth when Polk doubled past third, scoring Maldonado from first with two out.

Kentucky’s Emilien Pitre dumped a single to right to leadoff fate sixth and then Gilliam advanced him to third with a hit-and-run single to right. With one out, Jase Felker hit an 0-2 pitch over third to break the tie.

The ‘Cats had a shot at more, but Reuben Church flied out to center and then RJ Austin made a nice play to charge a McCarthy ground ball and get the out at first to keep things at 2-1.

Kentucky got the first two on in the seventh against Sam Hilboki but the right-hander got out of it thanks to a bunt, Noland’s throwing a man out on a ground ball hit to him at first and Hliboki getting out of it with a comeback-er to end the seventh.

The Commodores snapped a four-game losing streak with this weekend's sweep. Vanderbilt hadn't lost consecutive games all year until that rough patch, and Corbin reflected on what the team had been through recently--which includes playing this series through the midst of final exams.

"It's just great for the kids. I thought we were a little tentative on Friday, but we broke out a little more yesterday and today, they just responded when they had to. But we pitched and played defense and really we gave ourselves a chance that way, and that's all you can ask," Corbin said. "And we kept them from bunting, which, that is a big deal."

Vanderbilt plays Georgia State at Hawkins Field on Tuesday at 6 Central.