STARKVILLE, Miss. - It was a simple bunt trap play, the kind that's textbook with a likely bunter up and runners on first and second.

But it's precisely what doomed Tennessee in the seventh inning here Sunday afternoon.

Mississippi State's Grant Hogue squared up and hit a Ty'Relle Harris pitch through the infield to give the Bulldogs a go-ahead run in a 7-3 series-deciding win over Tennessee in front of an announced crowd of 1,248 at water-logged Dudy Noble Field. Hogue's single would've been routinely fielded by UT shortstop Cody Grisham - except that he was sprinting toward third in anticipation of a bunt from Hogue.

"We didn't make some pitches and some plays when we needed to," said Tennessee assistant coach Bradley LeCroy, who took over as the UT manager when Todd Raleigh was ejected in the sixth inning. "It's just kind of been the way our season here lately has been going. But you've got to give State credit. They took advantage of some mistakes."

Mississippi State (18-26, 6-15 SEC) won its first SEC series of the season, a fact not lost on its players. They gathered en masse, many shirtless, and went sliding through the water-logged outfield not long after the game was called.

The loudspeakers even blared "We Are The Champions."

The Vols (25-19, 11-10) lost their second straight SEC series. UT hosts Western Carolina at 7 p.m. Tuesday before hosting Vanderbilt in a three-game set.

Sunday's game was called when a heavy downpour started in the bottom of the eighth inning. Umpires quickly determined that the game couldn't resume before a 6 o'clock local time curfew and officially ended the game after seven innings.

Dudy Noble Field took rain all morning, but the skies cleared in time for a start that was delayed a half-hour. A large pool of standing water remained in center field.

Behind efficient work from Harris, Tennessee took a 3-2 lead in the sixth. MSU responded with Tyler Moore's home run in the bottom of theinning, and an urgency to score soon became apparent as a large, dark cloud moved toward the field.

Tennessee went down in order in the seventh, and Harris got in a jam to start the Bulldogs' half of the inning. That's when Hogue, at the urging of MSU coach Ron Polk, decided to swing after showing bunt.

"The first time, I didn't, and he just looked at me like I was an idiot," Hogue said. "So I was like alright, I've got to get it done this time. He threw a pitch I can handle."

Said LeCroy: "We were trying to throw an elevated fastball so if he was slashing he wouldn't swing because it would be a ball. But if he tried to bunt it, he had a chance to pop it up. It didn't work out the way we wanted it to."

MSU added three more in the inning for insurance, then brought in ace closer Aaron Weatherford, who held UT at bay until the rain did in the Vols.

Raleigh was ejected in the sixth after home plate umpire Todd Henderson called out batter Kentrail Davis for touching home plate while hitting the ball. Raleigh piled dirt on home plate on his way to the dugout.

Yan Gomes, Tennessee's next hitter, drove in Josh Liles to tie the game.

Harris (2-1) took the loss for Tennessee, giving up six runs, all earned, and nine hits in six innings. Designated hitter Jeff Lockwood was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Grisham, playing in front of friends and family from nearby Booneville, Miss., had a 5-for-10 weekend with three RBIs.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.