Kentucky softball shakes off pesky Mississippi State in extra innings, 3-2

Wild pitch ends softball duel: Holly Ward’s wild pitch in the ninth inning brought home the winning run and No. 12 Kentucky beat visiting Mississippi State 3-2.

Freshman catcher Jenny Schaper hit a leadoff double in the ninth and advanced to third on Kelsey Nunley’s bunt. Ward’s delivery to Christian Stokes then went wild. Nikki Sagermann’s home run in the eighth pulled the Cats back into a tie. The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the top of the inning with a bases-loaded hit in front of the plate by Calyn Adams off reliever Meagan Prince.

MSU broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a one-out, two-on double. The Cats sent the game into extra innings with a two-out rally in the seventh. Kentucky is now 41-11 and 15-7 in the SEC. Mississippi State fell to 25-28 and 3-19. The Cats’ Senior Day is Saturday at noon.

-- Kentucky will conclude the outdoor track and field regular season by hosting the Kentucky Relays on Saturday. College events — beginning with the 5,000 meters — will begin at 10 a.m. UK will go through senior day ceremonies at about 4 p.m.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Kentucky softball shakes off pesky Mississippi State in extra innings, 3-2."