OXFORD – The Ole Miss Rebels are making a habit of this.

One day after coming back to beat Bethune Cookman, the Rebels erased a four-run deficit to defeat South Alabama 9-7 in a winner’s bracket matchup at Oxford University Stadium.

The victory vaults the Rebels (42-20) into a 5 p.m. matchup with South Alabama (39-20) or Tulane (42-20) today. Those two teams will battle at 1 p.m. in an elimination game. Tulane beat Bethune Cookman 12-7 on Saturday.

&#8220This is a tough loss,” USA coach Steve Kittrell said. &#8220But you have to give credit to Ole Miss because they kept battling and battling and making things happen.”

Staked to a 7-3 lead, the Jaguars watched as Ole Miss put four on the board in a demoralizing seventh inning, then took the lead for good on a two-run home run from Chris Coghlan in the eighth inning.

&#8220He threw me a fastball inside on the first pitch and I took it,” Coghlan said. &#8220Then I missed the slider and he came back with a fastball inside and let it out over the plate a little.

&#8220I didn’t know if it was out when I hit it, but when I saw it go over the fence I ran around the bases in record time.”

The comeback is nothing new to the Rebels in this postseason.

&#8220The past few games, we haven’t come out and played well early in games,” said Ole Miss second baseman Justin Henry, a former Vicksburg High star. &#8220South Alabama came out and swung the bats great tonight.”

Tyler Jones, Patrick Weaver and Guillermo Martinez each had three hits as the Jags lit up Ole Miss pitchers for 17 hits on the night.

The biggest blow early came from former St. Aloysius standout Aaron George. The senior, who plans to graduate in December and enter medical school, crushed a 402-foot home run to left center field to erase an early 2-1 deficit and give USA a 4-2 lead. George’s towering home run ended an 0-for-23 streak for the former Flash.

&#8220That felt so good to finally hit a home run,” said George, who ended the game 1-for-3 with three RBIs. &#8220I’ve been hitting the ball, but it’s been right at people and I haven’t been hitting it solid. It felt real good.”

The Jags extended the advantage to 7-3 with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to chase Rebel starter Brett Buckvich. Buckvich allowed six runs on 12 hits, but was bailed out by the relief efforts of freshman Cody Satterwhite and junior college transfer Garrett White. The two relievers combined for four innings and allowed a combined five hits and one run.

&#8220Brett really hung in there. He did not have good stuff tonight, but he hung in there,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said, adding about Satterwhite, &#8220this is why Cody is able to get a lot of wins. He comes into close games and is able to keep it together.”

The Jaguars threatened again in the eighth after Ole Miss took the lead. Joel Collins singled and Jones reached on a single to put runners at first and third with one out. Satterwhite coaxed a weak popout from Weaver, then got out of the inning when David Freese, USA’s top hitter at .415, grounded out hard to second base.

Satterwhite improved to 11-2 on the season, while White earned his 10th save. The hard-throwing lefty struck out two in the final two innings of work.

&#8220We were hoping to not see him tonight,” Kittrell said. &#8220With a four-run lead, we would not have seen him, but that’s baseball.”

Coghlan led Ole Miss with a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Alex Presley, Ketchum and Hancock each had two hits in the win.

Lance Lynn will get the call today for the Rebels. The highly touted freshman from Brownsburg, Ind., is 6-3 with a 4.64 ERA.

&#8220We want to get to Monday night for a one-game season,” Kittrell said. &#8220To do that, though, we have to beat two great teams tomorrow.”