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Kentucky blown out in first game of doubleheader vs. Mississippi State, loses game two in extras

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan•05/03/25•

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Photo via Mississippi State Athletics
Photo via Mississippi State Athletics

After Mother Nature pushed back Friday’s series opener between Kentucky and Mississippi State, a Saturday doubleheader was scheduled. Unfortunately, it couldn’t have gone worse for the Wildcats at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.

Kentucky (25-19; 10-13 SEC) was demolished in the first game, losing 14-4 despite jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. The second game went better for the Bat Cats to start, but a lengthy scoring drought forced extra innings, where Mississippi State won 6-5 on a walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 11th inning.

This was a tough way to lose the series for Kentucky, especially against a team in 14th place in the SEC standings that was less than a week removed from firing head coach Chris Lemonis. UK also dropped a midweek game to Western Kentucky on Tuesday.

The ‘Cats will try to salvage the final game of the series against the Bulldogs on Sunday. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+.

Game 1: Mississippi State 14, Kentucky 4 (7 innings)

You wouldn’t know it from the final score, but Kentucky threw the first punch in the first game of the day. The Bat Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a productive second inning. Mississippi State would steal a run back in the bottom of the inning, but UK was in good shape early on.

Then came the fourth inning.

The Bulldogs rattled off four runs to jump in front 5-3. After finally getting out of the jam, Kentucky tacked on a run of its own in the fifth, but Mississippi State’s offensive onslaught continued from there. A one-run fifth inning was followed by a demoralizing eight-run sixth inning. Multiple Bulldog runs were scored off wild pitches. UK was just 1-10 through six innings with runners in scoring position.

With MSU now holding a 10-run lead after seven innings, the run-rule was enforced, putting the ‘Cats out of its misery with a 14-4 defeat. We took a 40-minute break before diving into Game 2.

Game 2: Mississippi State 6, Kentucky 5 (11 innings)

For the second straight game, we saw a scoreless first inning. But this time, Mississippi State would strike first with a pair of second-inning runs thanks to a two-run homer. Star freshman Tyler Bell got the ‘Cats on the board in the third with his own two-run shot (his seventh home run of the season), but the Bulldogs poured in three more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-2 lead.

Kentucky wasn’t going that easily, though. Led off by a Ryan Schwartz triple, three runs in the fourth inning from the ‘Cats tied the game at 5-5. But offense suddenly became hard to come by from there as we saw five straight scoreless innings — free baseball in Starkville. Mississippi State had a chance to sneak in a run in the bottom of the 10th inning, but a terrific throw from Kentucky’s Shaun Montoya caught the runner at third.

To the 11th inning we went.

Kentucky had a chance to tack on some runs in the top of the inning. The ‘Cats had two runners on with one out, but again failed to get anyone across home plate. Mississippi State immediately took advantage in the bottom of the inning. Joe Powell walked it off for the Bulldogs in a 6-5 win.

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2025-05-31