OXFORD — Down seven runs, Western Kentucky made things interesting but Ole Miss closer Jake Morgan pitched out of jam in the eighth inning and then had a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the Hilltoppers for a 7-4 win at the NCAA Tournament’s Oxford Regional.

The win was huge for Ole Miss as it puts the Rebels (42-17) into today’s final at 5 against the winner of the afternoon elimination game between WKU (40-18) and Missouri (35-26) at 1.

“We expected to be in this position and we’re looking forward to tomorrow,” Morgan said in the post-game press conference. Morgan gave up a one-out single to bring up the tying run in the eighth, but battled back to strike out the next two to end the threat.

“Pressure situations don’t bother me. I knew that they (WKU) hits really well, but I was ready,” said Morgan, who recorded his eighth save of the season.

“I thought Philip Irwin was the difference early and then Jake was tremendous late, especially in the eighth inning,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “This was a great college baseball game. But we’re now where we want to be, playing the last game Sunday.”

WKU coach Chris Finwood gave credit to Ole Miss’ pitching for holding off his team’s charge. The Hilltoppers came in hot, having blitzed Missouri 11-5 on Friday.

“Those were probably the three best arms we’ve seen this year,” Finwood said. “We got to Irwin some in the middle innings, but then the next two guys did the job.”

WKU’s Wade Gaynor, who has 23 home runs, was left in the on-deck circle as Morgan struck out Matt Payton and Matt Hightower to end the eighth.

“He got us on sliders. I can’t think of anyone better than those three. Irwin was real good early,” Gaynor said. He finished with two of the Toppers’ 12 hits.

Irwin pitched five scoreless innings and had a 7-0 lead before WKU started its charge to cut it to 7-4. He went 6 2/3 innings, striking out 10 while allowing 11 hits.

Ole Miss had 13 hits, led by Logan Power’s three singles. Matt Snyder had a big three-run homer in the sixth off WKU starter and losing pitcher Shane Cameron.

“We got some big timely hits, none bigger than Snyder’s home run,” Bianco said.

Former Vicksburg standout Jordan Henry went 2 for 5 and drove in two runs.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com