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OXFORD, Miss. — Top-seed Mississippi used the long ball to rally past upset-minded Oklahoma, 7-3, Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Regional. The Rebels (46-18) took the lead for good on a two-run homer by Mark Wright in the sixth and then put the game on ice with a three-run shot off the bat of Alex Presley in the ninth.


The Sooners (34-24) left the bases loaded in the bottom half of the ninth when reliever Stephen Head struck out Eric Thorton and Russell Raley, setting the Ole Miss record for career saves in the process (25).


The victory improves the Rebels’ home mark to 28-7 this season. The hosts advance to play at 5 p.m. Sunday, where they will meet the winner of the OU-Maine elimination contest set for 1 p.m.


OU trailed 2-0 into the fifth until light-hitting Chuckie Caufield ignited a three-run rally that gave his team a 3-2 edge. Caufield’s second homer of the season made it 2-1 and the Sooners followed with two more rallies, both plated by a two-out Raley single.


Unfortunately, OU starting pitcher Steven Guerra could not hold the lead. A leadoff walk set the table for Wright in the sixth and he deposited a 410-foot blast over the centerfield fence to make it 4-3.


It stayed that way until the ninth, as both teams squandered scoring chances in the late going. But Ole Miss added some much-needed insurance in the top of the ninth on just Presley’s second homer of the season. It came off of reliever Will Savage, after John Brownell had worked 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.


Coach Sunny Golloway’s squad mounted one final charge in the bottom of the frame, as a walk, single and an Ole Miss error loaded the bases with one out. But Head fanned the final two batters to end the threat.


Besides collecting a pair of hits, including his homer, Caufield made a sparking defensive play in center when his running grab robbed Ole Miss of a run in the opening inning.


Raley had two hits for OU, while Kody Kaiser added a pair of hits and Ryan Rohlinger drew three walks.


Ole Miss out-hit the Sooners 14-9 in front of 6,880 spectators at Swayze Field, the sixth largest crowd in school history.