STARKVILLE, Miss. — UK got a hit from every member of its starting lineup, as the No. 8 Kentucky baseball team rolled to 16 hits, to tally a 10-6 win and even the series with Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon in front of 10,324 fans at Dudy Noble Field.
Kentucky (24-3-1, 4-3-1 Southeastern Conference) got hits from every member of its starting lineup, including a three-hit performance from first baseman Sawyer Carroll. Carroll, a junior from Henryetta, Okla., doubled twice, while driving in two runs. Freshman outfielder Jason Kipnis also contributed two doubles, while knocking in a team-high three RBI. Tyler Howe also contributed a two-bagger, part of a 2-for-3 day for the junior catcher.
Senior Mike Brown, the SEC leader in batting average and runs scored, and the NCAA leader in on-base percentage, finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Brown also doubled, his 10th two-bagger of the season.
Kentucky starter Andrew Albers worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing only two earned runs, while striking out two. The junior southpaw improved to 5-0 on the season with the win. Wildcat junior reliever Aaron Lovett entered in relief of Albers and worked the final 3 2/3 innings to pick up his third save of the season. Lovett allowed only one hit and one earned run. Bulldog starter Justin Pigott took the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season.
Kentucky struck first in the second inning, plating four runs on five hits. Sean Coughlin led off with a single and Brian Spear followed with a one-out single through the left side. Kipnis drove in the duo with a double in the left-center field gap. Howe replaced Kipnis at second with his own double, scoring the outfielder and setting up Antone DeJesus for an RBI single to give the Wildcats an early 4-0 advantage.
The Wildcats got on the board again in the fourth, pushing across three runs on three hits. Spear led off with a single and came around to score on Kipnis? third RBI of the game. Howe followed with an RBI single and DeJesus scored Howe with a single of his own to give UK a 7-0 lead.
Mississippi State (17-7, 4-4 SEC) tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the fourth, beginning with a Joseph McCaskill double. After a Brian LaNinfa single moved McCaskill to third, Connor Powers scored McCaskill on a fielder?s choice for the first Bulldog run of the game. Powers came around to score after Jeff Flagg notched an RBI single up the middle.
In the fifth, MSU scored again, as Edward Easley reached on a leadoff single and McCaskill followed him with a one-out single. Easley touched home after a UK fielding error and McCaskill plated on a Brandon Turner single, part of a 3-for-3 day for the Bulldog freshman, to cut the UK lead to 7-4.
UK tacked on two runs in the seventh, as Mike Brown led off with a double that painted the right-field line. Carroll replaced Brown at second with an RBI double of his own. Wilkes scored Carroll with a single into right field to give UK a 9-4 lead.
Kentucky added one more in the eighth inning as Mike Brown reached on a two-out single and scored after Carroll?s second double of the contest, to give UK a 10-4 advantage.
Mississippi State rallied in the eighth, scoring two runs on no hits. Turner drew a walk and moved into scoring position on a balk. Jeff Flagg forced a fielding error on the UK second baseman, allowing Turner to score. Andy Rice pinch ran for Flagg and scored on an Easley sacrifice fly for the final margin 10-6.
Kentucky and Mississippi State face off in the rubber match on Sunday at 2:30 EDT. Fans in Lexington can catch all the action, live on WLAP 630-AM with Neil Price on the call.
