WHAT HAPPENED: Kentucky evened the series against Florida with a 5-1 win Saturday night in Gainesville.
 
The Wildcats led 3-1 in the eighth when Brady McConnell drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt. UK's Zack Thompson proceeded to retire the next three hitters in order to escape the jam and seize the momentum.
 
Thompson, a projected first round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, pitched a complete game and allowed one run on three hits with 11 strikeouts.
 
Kentucky took advantage of a shaky second inning from UF starter Jack Leftwich to score three runs on two hits. Leftwich walked two and hit two batters in the frame. He stranded three runners to limit the damage.
 
The Gators played small ball in the third to get their lone run of the game. After Jacob Young singled to lead off the frame, Jud Fabian laid down a sac bunt to move him to second. Austin Langworthy's two-out single scored Young to make it 3-1.
 
Both sides settled in on the mound after the third inning and kept the hitters quiet until the ninth when Kentucky broke through against Gators' reliever Ben Specht.
 
Back-to-back doubles from Ryan Shinn and Elliott Curtis extended the Cats' lead to 4-1. Kentucky executed a safety squeeze to add another run before the Gators escaped the inning.
 
FROM THE COACH: Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan – On tonight's game: "[Thompson] pitched really good. He's probably a first rounder. He has the ability to dial it up. In the eighth inning, we had a runner at third with nobody out and the next thing you know he's back up to 93-94 and locating pitches. He took his game to another level … You don't see many guys like that in our league. His fastball from the left side was up to 94-95 and he had the breaking ball going early in the game. The second time through he starts throwing that really good slider in on the right handers and threw a couple quality changeups. It was a legitimate four-pitch mix.
 
"The game probably turned there in the eighth when we had Langworthy, Nelly and Kendrick coming up with the runner at third and nobody out. If we can push across a run there who knows what happens. Give credit to him. He pitched really good tonight."
 
UP NEXT: Florida and Kentucky wrap up the series Sunday at noon. The game will air live on ESPN2 and the Gators Sports Network.