There wasn’t a shortage of drama at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss., for the UK baseball team (21-17, 6-12 Southeastern Conference) this weekend.

In a series they had to have against Mississippi State, the Cats got timely hitting and strong pitching in taking two of three games from the Bulldogs (5-4, 3-4 22-17). The Cats faced off against their former head coach John Cohen for the first time, and came away with their playoff hopes still intact.

After taking down in-state rival Louisville in dramatic fashion on April 14, the Cats continued their return for the dramatic flair with an 11-inning victory over Mississippi State in game one of the series on Friday. The Cats used a two-RBI triple by sophomore second baseman Chris Bisson in the 11th inning to top the Bulldogs. On the mound, junior left-handed pitcher James Paxton threw for seven innings, only allowing two runs while striking out nine. The victory was the Cats’ second extra-inning win of the year.

On Saturday, the Cardiac Cats attempted to make their second appearance in as many games. In the ninth inning, with the game tied at three, junior first baseman Gunner Glad had his go-ahead, solo home run robbed by Mississippi State left-fielder Brent Brownlee. This time, Mississippi State got the better end of the heroics as Bulldogs sophomore first baseman Connor Powers hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Bulldogs the 4-3 victory and tie up the series at one. For the game, UK left a total of 13 runners on base.

In the series rubber match, the Cats jumped on the Bulldogs early and often, scoring a season-high 22 runs off 22 hits. In the game, defense was optional as the two teams combined for 39 runs off 43 hits, with nine errors. Freshman left fielder Chad Wright led all Cats with four hits on the day, and Bisson bat in six UK runs. The 22 runs scored by the Cats were more than they had scored in their last four games combined.

The series win is the Cats’ second SEC series victory of the season. The Cats have four more SEC series to improve their current standing in the conference and try to earn a spot in the SEC Tournament.