Lexington, (Ky.) ? Kentucky took a 10-2 lead in the fifth inning and fended off a late Mississippi State rally to beat the Bulldogs, 10-9, and snap a seven-game Southeastern Conference losing streak on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The win improved the Wildcats to 16-13 on the season and 3-7 in league play. With the loss, Mississippi State dropped to 19-11 and 3-7 in the SEC.
Billy Grace got the scoring started early for Kentucky, doubling to score two runs. Casey Gilvin and Spencer Graeter, who had reached on a walk and single, respectively, scored on the play. Grace later scored on Mike Breyman?s double and Kentucky found itself with an early 3-1 lead.
Kentucky got four more in the bottom of the third, three coming courtesy of Jake Kungl?s second home run of the season. Kungl?s blast exited the stadium over the wall in right center field and scored Grace and Breyman in front of him. Michael Bertram singled in the inning and later scored on a Gilvin single to put UK on top, 7-1.
State got another run in the top of the fourth, but Kentucky answered with two more in the bottom half of the inning as Caleb Stewart hit a bomb to right field, his team-leading seventh homer of the year.
In the bottom of the fifth, Joe Naill was hit by a pitch and scored when Graeter tripled. The score gave the Cats a healthy 10-2 advantage, but Mississippi State mounted a rally. >p> The Bulldogs big inning came in the seventh when they got four runs, three coming from a bases-clearing double off the bat of Craig Tatum. Tatum later scored on Brian Laninfa?s single and the UK lead was chopped to 10-6.
MSU tacked on two more in the eighth, Tatum delivering the big blow again, his second consecutive double, this time scoring two.
Leading, 10-8, in the top of the ninth inning, UK reliever Matt Scott surrendered another run on two walks and a Jeffrey Rea single. Scott then got some revenge on Tatum, striking him out to end the game and preserve the victory for UK.
?That?s certainly not the way we want to finish a game, but we?re happy to get a win and some confidence,? UK head coach John Cohen said. ?Our hitters did a nice job early in the game being very aggressive and Matt Scott gives us our best opportunity to win games late. The bottom line is that we found a way to win and that?s what you have to do.?
UK starter Kalen Gibson (3-1) picked up the win for Kentucky. The sophomore threw 6 2/3 solid innings, allowing six runs, four earned, in eight hits, before giving way to Scott. State?s Jamie Gant (3-4) was saddled with the loss after surrendering 10 runs, nine earned, on 10 hits in five innings of work.
Graeter, Breyman and Bertram all had two hits for Kentucky, which got at least one hit from seven different players in the game. Tatum?s three hits and five RBI paced the MSU lineup.
The same two teams are back in action on Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium, with game two of the three-game set. Seth Stanley (5-1) gets the ball for Kentucky. He will be opposed by Alan Johnson (1-1). Game time is set for 2 p.m. (ET). All the action can be heard live on 96.1 FM in Lexington. Live audio and stats are available at www.ukathletics.com. Live video streaming is also available on ?Extreme Access? at the UK web site.
— UK —
