5/13/2018 baseball Edit

RECAP: Cats fall in Cliff Hagan Stadium regular-season finale

Cliff Hagan Stadium has served as home of the Bat Cats for 50 years.

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated

Managing Editor

Joined the Cats Illustrated staff in the summer of 2017. Veteran reporter and photographer who has covered UK sports dating back to 1987.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- There was no storybook ending for what might have been the final game at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Mississippi State played the spoiler role on Sunday, pounding Kentucky 18-8 in the final regular-season game at the 50-year-old home of the Wildcats.

With four games left before the postseason, No. 17 UK will attempt to improve its NCAA Tournament resume in hopes of hosting a regional at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

The weekend was not a complete loss for Kentucky (33-18, 13-14 SEC), which took two out of three games from the Bulldogs.

UK was in a difficult position in Sunday's finale with normal starter Justin Lewis held out with a strained forearm. The Cats had to use a committee of pitchers to get through the day, and it did not go well.

Mississippi State (28-24, 12-15 SEC) pounded out 20 hits against six UK hurlers. Third baseman Jordan Westberg went 4-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs,while outfielders Elijah MacNamee and Jake Magnum each collected three hits.

MSU produced its 18 runs without the aid of a home run in cozy Cliff Hagan Stadium, a statistical oddity for the venue.

The beneficiary of the massive run support was Bulldogs starter Jacob Billingsley (4-3), who allowed five runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings of work. He also struck out 11 batters.

Meanwhile, Kentucky's potent bats could not compensate for the pitching shortage. Brayden Combs and Trey Dawson each homered for the Cats, and Luke Heyer added a pair of doubles, but it wasn't enough to dig UK out of a 9-1 hole it fell into after only three innings of play.

Combs' blast marked the first career hit for the freshman from Beechwood High School.

Brad Schaenzer (1-2) took the loss in a substitute starting role for Lewis. He allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in just two-thirds of an inning. Matters did not improve for Aaron McGeorge, Daniel Harper, Crosby Bringhurst, Brett Marshall and Alec Maley out of the UK bullpen.

Only Marshall, who worked two innings, escaped without any scoring damage. Five wild pitches and five errors did not help matters.

Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at Murray State in its final non-conference game of the season. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. ET.