HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — The middle of Ole Miss’ order kept it on a straight path toward the Southeastern Conference tournament championship.

Henri Lartigue had four hits, including a three-run homer in the eighth inning, to power Ole Miss past South Carolina 10-4 on Wednesday in the SEC Tournament.

Ole Miss’ No. 3-7 hitters — Tate Blackman, J.B. Woodman, Lartigue, Colby Bortles and Ryan Olenek — went a combined 12-for-21 with seven RBIs and nine runs scored to lead the Rebels (42-16) to victory.

“I thought again in Day 2 we played some really good baseball,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “The middle lineup did it again today, and I thought it was a well-played game for us. We got some timely hits. I thought we played really well tonight.”

The Rebels advanced to meet Vanderbilt in a winners’ bracket game Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Vanderbilt beat Texas A&M 6-5 earlier Wednesday.

Ole Miss and Vanderbilt did not play each other in the regular season.

South Carolina (42-14), which has lost seven straight SEC tournament games, must beat Texas A&M to stay alive.

“We know that they (Vanderbilt) pitch it really well, but nothing changes for us. We play the game. That is what we have been doing so far this week, and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” said Lartigue, who was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

South Carolina committed five errors, leading to four unearned runs. Ole Miss jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings and 7-2 after Bortles hit a two-run double in the fifth.

South Carolina used a pair of infield singles to score two runs and get back within 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

In the eighth, however, Ole Miss stuck in the dagger. With two on and two out, Lartigue homered over the right field fence to push the lead back to 10-4.

South Carolina starter Clarke Schmidt allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings when he faced Ole Miss back in March. On Wednesday, he was roughed up for seven runs — only four of them earned — on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

“We had some success against him last time we faced him,” Lartigue said. “It was all about timing here today. We got hits with runners on. Last time we had all singles, and we weren’t able to push a run across. Today we were able to.”

Ole Miss starter David Parkinson (5-3) went 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Will Stokes pitched three scoreless innings for his seventh save of the season.

“It felt pretty good today,” Parkinson said. “I have talked to coach about it, and I threw my own pitches. He said to just hit your own spots and see what they can do with it. I think I threw better than I was as the game progressed. Later in the game I felt strong.”

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Thursday, 4:30 p.m.

Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt

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