Baseball: Walk-off homer beats Cats in 10th

Special to the Herald-Leader

Sunday
Kentucky at Mississippi State
When: 2 p.m.
Radio: WLAP-AM 630

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Connor Powers hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting Mississippi State to a 4-3 win over Kentucky in the teams' second straight extra-innings affair.

The Wildcats got a 5-4 win in the 11th inning on Friday night and had a chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth on Saturday. Gunner Glad hit a long shot to left field that looked to be going over the wall before Brent Brownlee leapt up and snagged the would-be home run.

After UK stranded two runners in the top of the 10th inning, Powers led off for the Bulldogs by sending a 3-1 pitch from Kentucky reliever Logan Darnell to the deepest part of the park, his team-best 12th home run of the season.

Kentucky (20-17, 5-12 Southeastern Conference) left a total of 13 runners on base in the game. With the game tied 3-3 in the seventh, UK had the bases loaded with one out, but a double play ended Kentucky's best scoring chance.

Sophomore second baseman Chris Bisson was the only run producer for the Wildcats. Bisson went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a walk and extended his hitting streak to a team-best seven games. Freshman lead-off man Chad Wright contributed a 2-for-5 game and scored two runs.

Darnell (3-3) suffered the loss. UK starter Chris Rusin went 71⁄3 innings, giving up seven hits, three walks and two earned runs. Rusin struck out eight.

Mississippi State (20-19, 6-11 SEC) freshman lefty Nick Routt went six innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and striking out eight. Chad Crosswhite and Jared Wesson combined to shut down the UK offense over the final four innings, and Wesson picked up his second win of the year.