Talk about a walk-off win.

Cody Walker drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 12th inning Sunday to give Mississippi State a 4-3, series-clinching win over Tennessee.

“It’s all about finding a way on a Sunday in this league,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said. “The final game of a series comes down to the little things. We had our chances. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of one of them there at the end.”

Mississippi State (33-19, 16-11 Southeastern Conference) beat Tennessee (29-20, 11-16) in extra innings for the second day in a row, and improved to 6-0 in extra-inning games this season.

The Bulldogs will head into the final weekend of the regular season in sole possession of second place in the SEC West. They’ll open a three-game series at Alabama on Thursday night.

“We hold our future in the palm of our hands, and we’re going to try to do the same thing next week at Alabama,” said Walker, who was 0-for-3 in the game but walked twice, scored a run, and drove in another with his walk-off walk.

Tennessee led 3-1 in the sixth inning, until Walker led off with a walk and Wes Rea belted a two-run home run over the left field wall.

It was Rea’s fourth home run of the season, and first since he hit three in one game on Feb. 22.

“It was a line drive. If he’d gotten underneath it, there’s no telling how far he would’ve hit it,” Cohen said. “I’m just so happy for him. Sunday, the last home series of the year, it was neat for him to do that. If he doesn’t take that swing, we don’t win the ballgame. It’s that simple.”

Both teams’ bullpens held the line until the 12th inning, when Tennessee’s defense betrayed its pitching staff.

Tennessee shortstop A.J. Simcox made a wild throw on a bouncing grounder by Demarcus Henderson, then third baseman Taylor Smart made another bad throw on a bunt by Cody Brown.

With no outs, the Volunteers elected to intentionally walk Seth Heck to load the bases and set up a force play at home. The move backfired. Andrew Lee’s 3-1 pitch to Walker missed inside to bring in the winning run.

“I was taking there and just hoping to get a ball,” Walker said. “It just speaks a lot about our team. We never give up, never give in. It didn’t matter if we’re playing nine or 15 (innings). It was a total team effort today, so it speaks leaps and bounds about our team.”

Jacob Lindgren (4-1) got the win for Mississippi State, and teamed with Lucas Laster to provide a dominant pitching performance that gave the Bulldogs a chance to win.

Starter Preston Brown was pulled after giving up three runs in the first inning. Laster came on and threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, then Lindgren followed with another 5 1/3 scoreless frames.

In all, Laster and Lindgren combined to blank the Volunteers for 11 innings. They allowed six hits and two walks — both by Laster — and struck out 13 batters.

“Lucas and Lingo were both great today,” Cohen said. “They really attacked the zone and challenged hitters. If we have one inning back from this series, it’s a totally different weekend.”