Mississippi State’s flickering hopes of a first-round bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament were snuffed out in the eighth inning Saturday against Kentucky.

Luke Becker singled with the bases loaded to bring in two runs, two more runs scored on an error on a bunt, and Kentucky rallied to beat the Bulldogs 4-1.

Mississippi State (27-24, 11-15 Southeastern Conference) has lost the first two games of the three-game series, and was eliminated from the race for a top-four seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The best the Bulldogs can do is fifth place — and that’s if they win Sunday’s series finale and sweep first-place and top-ranked Florida at home next weekend.

Florida beat Georgia 9-3 on Saturday to clinch the regular-season SEC title.

The late rally by Kentucky spoiled a strong outing by MSU pitcher Ethan Small. He threw six shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out five.

Kentucky’s trio of Zack Thompson, Mason Hazelwood and Jimmy Ramsey matched him, though. They only allowed one hit after the first inning and retired 17 batters in a row at one point.

MSU’s only run came in the first inning, when Rowdey Jordan walked and scored on a single by Hunter Stovall.

“Ethan Small was outstanding today,” Mississippi State coach Gary Henderson said. “He had success by just doing the basics well. We hit several balls hard, but they were outs. We needed more guys on base. We pitched it well and defended it well other than the error in the eighth inning.”