By Kris Reid

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UK baseball failed to sweep No. 20 Mississippi State after a loss on Sunday, but wins on Friday and Saturday were enough to secure the series for the Cats.

The Cats won 10-2 over the Bulldogs on Friday and 9-7 on Saturday before falling 12-5 on Sunday. The series win was the first for UK in the SEC this season.

Junior left fielder Ka’ai Tom had a stellar series at the plate, going 6-for-14 with four runs batted while crossing the plate four times of his own. Tom also had a home run in Game 2 of the weekend series as he launched a pitch from Mississippi State starter Austin Sexton over the right field wall. The Hawaiian native has now hit two home runs this season and collected a team-high 24 RBIs.

Head coach Gary Henderson said Tom has really seen the ball well at the plate this year.

“He’s doing a great job,” Henderson said. “He’s given solid at bats and got a lot of solid contact. He’s had several balls that he’s hit really hard. The quality of his at bats throughout the year has been outstanding.”

Junior center fielder Kyle Barrett also had a solid series against the Bulldogs, hitting for .556 over the weekend while collecting seven runs and four RBIs. Barrett also hit his first homer of the year on Friday and had a 4-for-5 day at the plate in Saturday’s series-clinching win. He closed out the weekend going 3-for-5 while scoring a pair of runs.

Mississippi State scored 11 of its 12 runs in the middle innings of Sunday’s match, including six during the fifth inning. The Cats tied the game with three runs in the fourth inning, but were unable to come back from the Bulldogs’ scoring onslaught in the fifth. The Cats also committed three errors during the inning.

UK went through seven pitchers on Sunday to try to slow Mississippi State down, but nothing seemed to stop the Bulldogs from scoring.

“We let the game get away from us during the fifth.  The three errors and bad decisions on defense put them in a position to get some extra basses, extra outs, and extra at bats,” Henderson said. “They took some advantages of it.”

UK (15-8) will be back in action on Tuesday to face Western Kentucky (12-10) in Bowling Green, Ky. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.