Mississippi State
20-20, 0
Kentucky
21-17, 0
Kentucky Outslugs Bulldogs For 22-17 Sunday Victory, Series Win
April 19, 2009 | Baseball
? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Despite a season high in hits and runs scored, the Mississippi State baseball team could not find enough pitching and defense to close out the 24th Super Bulldog Weekend presented by Regions Bank with a victory.
Kentucky also had a season high in hits and runs scored and in the end also had a win in the weekend series. UK took the rubber game of the Southeastern Conference series in a 22-17 shootout before a crowd of 2,452 at Dudy Noble Field.
The teams waited one hour, 12 minutes to play due to heavy rains on the MSU campus. Then, the teams played four hours, 29 minutes. There was a combined 39 runs, 43 hits and nine errors in the contest. The teams stranded 21 total base runners and someone scored at least a run in 15 of 18 at-bats in the contest.
With the victory, UK improved to 21-17 overall and 6-12 in league play. MSU fell to 20-20 and also 6-12 in league play. The teams are tied for 10th in the overall conference standings. The top eight teams make the SEC Tournament. With four weeks left in the regular season, MSU and UK are both two games behind eighth place in the standings.
“We came up short on the mound today,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “We gave our best effort, but its just not t here. Our guys pulled it with in five. They could have folded but did not.”
The game was much different than the first two in the series - a 5-4 UK win in 11 innings Friday and a 4-3 MSU win in 10 innings Saturday. By the second inning Sunday, both teams had eclipsed those marks with a combined 11 total runs.
UK scored four runs in the top of the first inning. From there, the Wildcats never trailed and the teams were never tied. UK actually held a 22-11 lead before the Bulldogs plated six scores in the home half of the ninth inning.
The Bulldogs had a season high in hits (21) and runs scored (17). Ryan Collins, Jet Butler and Grant Hogue each had three hits. Luke Adkins, Ryan Duffy, Connor Powers and Russ Sneed had multiple hits.
Collins connected for his first home run of the year - a three-run shot in the ninth inning. Connor Powers ran his hit streak to 12 games with a two-run home run in the first inning. For Powers, it was his team-best 13th home run of the season.
Still, the Bulldogs could not make up for a day-long struggle on the mound. In addition to allowing 22 hits, the Bulldogs walked nine batters and were also undone by a season-high five errors.
MSU's Ricky Bowen (2-3) started and only made it through four batters. Greg Houston completed the first inning and worked through the fourth inning. Houston left with his team trailing 9-4 after four complete innings.
Justin Bussey, Caleb Reed, Chad Crosswhite and position players Adkins and Collins each threw an inning apiece.
Kentucky finished with season highs in hits (22) and run scored (22). Chris Bisson again led the charge with three hits and six RBIs. For the weekend, the UK second baseman with nine hits and 12 RBIs in the series. Chad Wright had a team-high four hits, while Andy Burns, Chris Wade and Keenan Wiley joined Bisson with three hits.
Gunner Glad, Chris McClendon and Bryan Rose had multiple hits for the Wildcats.
Logan Darnell (4-3) earned the win with two innings of relief. Starter Alex Meyer was lifted with two outs in the fifth inning. Clint Tilford preceded Darnell and Branden Kapteyn followed for the Wildcats.
MSU hosts Middle Tennessee State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: L. Darnell (4-3)
L: Bowen, Ricky (2-3)
Batting:
2B: C. Wright 2 ; A. Burns 1 ; B. Rose 1
HR: C. Bisson 1
RBI: C. Wright 1 ; A. Burns 2 ; C. Bisson 6 ; G. Glad 3 ; C. Wade 2 ; K. Wiley 3 ; C. McClendon 2 ; M. Nidiffer 1
SF: C. Bisson 2 ; G. Glad 1 ; M. Nidiffer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Wright 5 ; A. Burns 6 ; C. Bisson 3 ; G. Glad 2 ; C. Wade 2 ; C. McClendon 1 ; B. Rose 3
SB: C. Wright 1 ; C. Bisson 1 ; C. McClendon 1
CS: C. Wright 1
Batting:
2B: Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Sneed, Russ 1 ; DeLoach, Scott 1
HR: Powers, Connor 1 ; Collins, Ryan 1
RBI: Adkins, Luke 2 ; Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Nappi, Jason 2 ; Powers, Connor 2 ; Sneed, Russ 2 ; Butler, Jet 1 ; DeLoach, Scott 1 ; Freeman, Cody 1 ; Collins, Ryan 4
SH: Adkins, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hogue, Grant 2 ; Adkins, Luke 1 ; Duffy, Ryan 1 ; Brownlee, Brent 1 ; Powers, Connor 2 ; Sneed, Russ 2 ; Butler, Jet 2 ; DeLoach, Scott 2 ; Rawdow, Frank 2 ; Collins, Ryan 2
SB: Hogue, Grant 3 ; Nappi, Jason 1 ; Collins, Ryan 1
HBP: DeLoach, Scott 1
