Kentucky Swept at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Dude Effect, as it’s referred to, has not been kind to Kentucky Baseball.

Mississippi State, which fired its coach earlier in the week, played inspired baseball all weekend and completed a three-game sweep of the Wildcats with a 6-1 victory on Sunday, sending UK to its eighth consecutive defeat at Dudy Noble Field and 12^th in 13 games.

The Wildcats dropped to 25-20 overall and 10-14 in Southeastern Conference play.

The banged up Wildcats couldn’t generate much offense in the series, especially with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, State made the most of its opportunities throughout and led the final 18 innings of the series.

UK’s Murphy’s Law weekend was on full display in the first inning when Carson Hansen’s deep drive hit the top edge of the padded left field wall for a triple. He was stranded at third when James McCoy’s shot to nearly the exact same spot was brought back over the fence by centerfielder Bryce Chance to rob what would have been a two-run home run. In the ninth inning, a defensive replacement for Chance also brought a home run back from over the fence.

The Cats now will have a week off for final exams before trying to get back on track against Oklahoma.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 25-20 (10-14 SEC) on the season.
• UK has lost eight straight and 12 of 13 at Mississippi State.
• Carson Hansen had a triple, the fifth of the series for UK.
• UK was hit by three pitches on the day and now have been hit 128 times in 2025.
  • It entered the weekend with 119 on the season, which ranked third nationally.
  • UK is four from the school single-season record of 132 (2023).
  • The last three seasons now are the top three in school history and have totaled 377.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his ninth season at the helm and now owns a 287-186 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 48-50 in the month of May under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione now is 6-9 vs. Mississippi State.
• INF Tyler Bell now has reached base safely in 44 of 45 career games.
  • He owns a career-long 10 game hit streak that was extended with a two-out ninth inning single.
• IF Luke Lawrence was 1-for-2 with 2 HBP.
  • His two HBP in game two became the 12^th time this season a UK player has been hit by multiple pitches in a single game.
  • He was hit four times on the weekend and now has 14 for the season.

 ON DECK

The Cats take the week off for final exams and return to the field next weekend for a series vs. Oklahoma.