Kentucky broke out the brooms Sunday in anticipation of finishing a series sweep of Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs grabbed them from the Wildcats’ hands and beat them mercilessly with the handles.

Mississippi State scored multiple runs in five of the nine innings, had 20 hits and set a season high for runs in a game as it pummeled Kentucky 18-8.

It was the most runs the Bulldogs (28-24, 12-15 Southeastern Conference) have scored against an SEC opponent since beating Florida 20-7 in 2000.

“This was a great win for us,” Mississippi State coach Gary Henderson said. “We had a disappointing loss yesterday and it’s hard to bounce back from that on the road. It’s great to see the team continue to improve offensively. Scoring runs early was important. Jacob Billingsley also gave us a great start on the mound.”

Jordan Westburg capped a spectacular series for Mississippi State by going 4-for-4 with three doubles and four RBIs.

Elijah MacNamee went 3-for-6 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored, and the Bulldogs hit seven doubles in all. Every starter had at least one hit and eight of them had an RBI.

MacNamee had an RBI double in the top of the first inning, Jake Mangum and Tanner Allen had RBI doubles in the second, and Westburg doubled in two in the third as Mississippi State jumped out to a 9-0 lead.
It added another run in the fifth and four in the sixth to lead 14-1 before Kentucky got its offense in gear late to make the score slightly more respectable.

Brayden Combs hit a two-run home run for Kentucky (33-18, 13-14) in the sixth inning, and Ben Aklinski hit an RBI double in the eighth as the Wildcats scored three more runs to get within 14-8.

The Bulldogs, however, scored four more runs in the top of the ninth to slam the door on a comeback. Westburg doubled and scored on a single by Mangum, and a few batters later MacNamee hit yet another double to plate two runs. MacNamee then scored on a single by Luke Alexander to make it 18-8.

LSU 7, Alabama 3

Daniel Cabrera and Austin Bain both homered, and LSU beat Alabama 7-3 on Sunday to capture a needed series victory and salvage an uneven weekend at Alex Box Stadium.

Nick Bush allowed one earned run in six innings pitched for LSU.

Cabrera doubled, homered and drove in four runs for the Tigers (31-21, 14-13 Southeastern Conference), who needed a big rally in Friday’s opener to beat the last-place Crimson Tide (26-27, 7-20) and then lost on Saturday.

The Tigers led 2-1 in the fifth inning Sunday when Cabrera hit a two-run homer to gain some breathing room.

After Alabama’s Keith Holcombe hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth, Jake Slaughter hit an RBI single in the bottom half and Cabrera added a two-run double to make it 7-2.

Slaughter finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Beau Jordan had three hits, and drove in a run and scored another for LSU.