Extra-Inning Defeat Caps Doubleheader Sweep

STARKVILLE, Miss. – A long day of baseball ended in heartbreak for Kentucky as it dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Mississippi State, including 6-5 in 11 innings in the nightcap on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.

With the losses UK dropped to 25-19 overall and 10-13 in the Southeastern Conference.

UK now is 2-4 in extra-inning games this season and nine of its league losses have come by a total of 13 runs.

GAME ONE

An early advantage quickly turned into a forgettable game as UK watched a three-run lead turn into a 14-4 defeat in the opener. State used a barrage of hits – five of which were of the infield variety – free bases and UK wild pitches to take the lead and then pile on.

The Cats took a 3-0 lead in the second inning but saw it disappear in the fourth after a four-run Bulldogs inning. An eight-run sixth produced the final margin.

The Cats did slap two triples in the game, one each by Tyler Bell and Luke Lawrence. Cole Hage added a double.

GAME TWO

Kentucky showed its heart in twice battling back from multi-run deficits to send the game to extra-innings but could not find the big hit it was seeking, losing 6-5 in 11 innings. Mississippi State scored the game winner on a clean single to left after Cole Hage was unable to haul in a leadoff double upon slamming glove first into the left field wall.

The Cats rallied from 2-0 and 5-2 deficits and saw freshman Tyler Bell mash a 451-foot home run that cleared the right field seats and exited the stadium. But a depleted State bullpen had one of its better nights and kept UK off the board until it could find the winner.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 25-19 (10-13 SEC) on the season.
• UK has held a lead in 21 of 23 SEC games.
• UK had four triples on the day, including back-to-back in game two.
• UK was hit by six pitches on the day and now have been hit 125 times in 2025.
  • It entered the weekend with 119 on the season, which ranked third nationally.
  • UK is seven from the school single-season record of 132 (2023).
  • The last three seasons now are the top three in school history and have totaled 374.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his ninth season at the helm and now owns a 287-185 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 48-49 in the month of May under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione now is 6-8 vs. Mississippi State.
• In Game One, Tyler Bell hit leadoff and Ryan Schwartz on the No. 2 spot.
  • It is the first time true freshmen hit 1-2 in the batting order since 2015 (Riley Mahan and Evan White).
• INF Tyler Bell now has reached base safely in 43 of 44 career games.
  • He hit a 451-foot home run that left the ballpark in its entirety.
  • He also had a triple.
  • He now ranks 4^th on the freshman single-season list for total extra-base hits (25), runs (40) and RBI (42).
• IF Luke Lawrence drove in three, had a triple and was hit by a pair of pitches.
  • His two HBP in game two became the 11^th time this season a UK player has been hit by multiple pitches in a single game.

 ON DECK

The Cats will look to avoid a sweep on Sunday. The game is at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT. It will air on SEC Network and radio will be carried by the UK Sports Network.