OXFORD — Twenty hits. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky certainly padded their impressive batting averages even more in Sunday’s stirring 10-9 comeback win over a stunned Ole Miss at the NCAA Tournament’s Oxford Regional.

Six Toppers had at least two hits. They hit four home runs, all coming in the last three innings. None were bigger than the three-run homer by Wade Gaynor that tied the game at 9 to cap a six-run rally in the eighth inning.

Then in the ninth, Jake Wells hit a solo shot to put WKU ahead to stay at 10-9.

Gaynor, who had two home runs, said, he was just looking to make contact. He had struck out four straight times against Ole Miss pitching until his solo shot in the seventh and the three-run bomb in the eighth.

“I didn’t want to get a fourth strikeout in one game,” Gaynor said. “When I faced (Jake Morgan) on Saturday, he had struck me out on a slider. I was looking for it and had my eye on center field.”

That’s where the ball landed. It was the longest home run of the regional to date.

Wells started WKU’s rally from a 9-3 deficit by getting  a two-strike single off Morgan. Then in the ninth against Nathan Baker, he got another two-strike hit, but this was a home run to put the Toppers ahead.

“With two strikes I’m looking for something outside but he (Baker) hung a slider,” Wells said.

“We never felt we were out of the game, even at 9-3. I was just looking to have a good at bat. Hitting is contagious and once we got a couple to drop in, the next guy was ready,” Wells said.

“We just had a lot of big hits,” WKU coach Chris Finwood said. “This was definitely the biggest win for Western Kentucky baseball.”

It puts them one win away from a Super Regional against the winner of the California Irvine regional winner.

Coming into Sunday, the Hilltoppers (42-19) needed three wins. They beat Missouri 11-6, getting 15 hits to stay alive. Then came the 20 against Ole Miss.

Matt Rice was 5-for-5 with three RBIs. Gaynor had two home runs and Wells had four hits.

“I’ve never seen a team come back that late in the game like that, but you just have to give them credit for having quality at bats,” Ole Miss’ Morgan said.

Ole Miss (42-18) will try to come back tonight with ace Drew Pomeranz. He won Friday’s opener against Monmouth 8-1, by throwing eight shutout innings.

“Everybody is available but Brett Bukvich, but we’re going with Drew Pomeranz for as long as he can go,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com