HOOVER, ALA – In a game that saw three ties and four lead changes, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the No. 21 Mississippi State Bulldogs in 12 innings in the SEC tournament Thursday night.
With No. 1 seed Florida knocking out South Carolina in an elimination game earlier in the afternoon, the No. 5 seed Bulldogs now have a date with the Gators for a semifinal game appearance on the line Friday night. Ole Miss will square off with Arkansas in the first game of the day Friday at 3 p.m., and the Bulldogs and Gators will take the field approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
MSU Head Coach John Cohen said his team competed hard but missed a few opportunities to claim victory.
“I thought our kids competed hard in this marathon game, and it really comes down to a couple of plays when you’re in these extra-inning deals. I thought we put ourselves in a really good position a couple of times,” he said. “I think our kids have done a great job here recently in challenging the strike zone, but we didn’t do that as much tonight as we wanted to.”
With the score knotted at 6-6 in Thursday night’s action, the Cats used a leadoff double and a pair of walks to load the bases before pinch hitter Zach Arnold singled to shortstop to give UK a 7-6 win.
The two squads matched 16 hits apiece, and although the Bulldogs claimed three of the four leads in the game, UK answered the MSU offense nearly inning for inning.
The Bulldogs struck first in the fourth inning and claimed a brief 1-0 lead after Pirtle and Collins reached base. Back-to-back wild pitches from the UK hurler plated the game’s inaugural run.
UK wasted no time answering as Michael Thomas blasted a solo home run over the left field wall to tie the game.
In the following frame, MSU used timely hitting to reclaim the lead. The Bulldogs used three consecutive two-out singles to plate a pair of runs and establish a 3-1 advantage and plated a run in the sixth inning to give the Maroon and White a 4-1 lead.
For the second time in the evening, the Wildcats responded to tie the game. A leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth followed by a double and a single trimmed the Bulldog lead to 4-2. UK continued the offensive threat with a sacrifice fly and a single to tie the game 4-4.
In the back-and-forth battle, MSU answered in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, Demarcus Henderson plated a run with a ground out to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 edge.
UK responded once again in the bottom of the eighth inning with a walk, double and RBI-ground out to plate a run to tie the game for the third time in the night.
MSU’s Seth Heck collected a pair of hits and scored two runs while driving in one and said the back-and-forth offense became a mental factor in the loss.
“It’s tough. We scored so many times in so many different innings that we know we’re close to breaking it open,” Heck said. “Unfortunately (Thursday) we weren’t able to get an inning where we unloaded, but it happens.”
The Bulldogs and Cats traded runs once again in the ninth inning before UK’s walk-off win in the final inning.
Heck said despite the loss, the Bulldogs have positive things to build upon heading into Friday night’s matchup.
“I think the last couple of days we have been swinging (the bat) really well. Our pitching wasn’t lights-out (Thursday) night as it has been, but that’s the game of baseball. Offense picks up the pitching when it’s not there and vice versa,” he said. “We did a lot of things well in this ball game. There are some positives from this. We’re going to come out (Friday), and we’ll be ready to go.”
The Bulldogs and Gators will meet on the diamond for the first time since MSU claimed a conference series in Starkville in last season.
MSU is 6-7 all time against Florida in the SEC tournament, including a 3-1 loss to the Gator’s in the first inaugural game played in the SEC tournament in 1977.