Everything was set up for Mississippi State baseball to extend Friday’s Southeastern Conference opener against Kentucky.
Lights-out reliever Nate Dohm was on the mound tossing a gem in relief for the Bulldogs, and all they needed was one out.
The Wildcats moved Hunter Gilliam, who led off the inning with a single, into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Gilliam was just the second hit Dohm allowed.
Two batters later, Dohm unraveled, throwing two wild pitches while facing James McCoy, allowing Gilliam to score as Mississippi State lost a heartbreaker, 6-5, in 10 innings.
It seemed like Mississippi State (13-6, 0-1 SEC) had several situations where it needed just one out — or just one strike — to get out of a jam.
The two times the Bulldogs needed it the most, they faltered, both coming from the eighth inning on with Dohm on the mound.
He inherited a runner after K.C. Hunt’s departure in the eighth, a leadoff walk to Ryan Waldschmidt that came around to score on a two-strike, two-out RBI single from Grant Smith.
Take away the RBI single and wild pitch collapse, and Dohm once again was sharp for Mississippi State, striking out five in 2.2 innings of work.
Hunt was as impressive after his early-season struggles, striking out four in two innings of work.
The Bulldogs held tough after putting up a three-spot in the top of the fifth, capped off by a Kellum Clark single up the middle to score two. It was the second clutch hit by Clark, who homered the previous inning.
Mississippi State took a 5-4 lead at that point, but the inability to score insurance runs following the fifth allowed Kentucky (16-2) to stay in the game and grab back momentum, which the Wildcats did in the eighth.
Clark provided the main spark of offense for the Bulldogs, recording two hits and three RBIs. He and Slate Alford both had two-hit days for Mississippi State, accounting for four of the eight hits in the loss.
Friday starter Jurrangelo Cijntje struggled once again with control, working deep counts and faltering early. Kentucky opened things up with a three-spot in the first as Cijnje allowed three free bases, including hitting a batter with the bases-loaded.
He settled down from that point on, striking out six and walking five over five innings. Cijntje averaged 19.2 pitches per inning in his start, a sign of growing pains for the freshman.
An eight-game winning streak was snapped in the loss, but the Bulldogs look to start a new one in the second game of their SEC opening weekend series at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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