The statistic that Justin Henry is most proud of isn’t his impressive batting average, nor his solid on-base percentage. It’s not even one of his own stats at all.

It’s the RBI totals for the three hitters behind him. If those numbers are high – and they are – then it means Henry is doing his job as Ole Miss’ leadoff man. And, more importantly, it means the Rebels are winning.

Henry has scored 57 runs this season, second on the team. The total accounts for more than a third of the 159 RBIs produced by Chris Coghlan, Zack Cozart and Alex Presley, the Rebels’ Nos. 2-4 hitters.

&#8220My job is to score runs and their job is to get RBIs,” said Henry, a former Vicksburg High star. &#8220It definitely feels good knowing that those RBIs are coming from me touching the plate.”

The production from the top of the order has helped Ole Miss shake off a slow start and streak into this week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament. After a 1-5 start in conference play, Ole Miss went 16-8 in the SEC over the last two months of the season – 23-9 overall – and finished third in the SEC West.

The Rebels earned the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament and will open up against No. 4 seed Arkansas tonight at 8 in Hoover, Ala.

The turning point, Henry said, was a weekend sweep at Georgia. The Rebels had just been swept by eventual SEC West champion Alabama and were 13-11 overall. After a thrilling 9-8 midweek win over Southern Miss, the Rebels went into Athens and took all three games from Georgia.

Ole Miss put together an 11-game winning streak a couple of weeks later and won five of their last seven SEC series.

&#8220Offensively, we struggled early on and also had some young pitchers. We finally started swinging the bats the way we were capable of and the pitchers came around,” Henry said. &#8220When we swept Georgia, that was a turning point for us. That was when we really started playing well.”

For his part, Henry played well most of the year.

In 2005, as a freshman, Henry played in 57 games but started just 21. He was the team’s utility man, playing everywhere from first base to the outfield and as the designated hitter.

He performed his role well, hitting .374 and earning All-SEC Tournament honors as the Rebels reached the championship game. That effort, combined with the loss of a half-dozen starters, catapulted Henry into a full-time job as the Rebels’ starting second baseman this spring.

&#8220It’s tough playing sometimes when you don’t know if you’re going to be starting one day and not the next,” said Henry, who has started in 54 of Ole Miss’ 56 games this season. &#8220It’s been a good adjustment for me.”

He has also adjusted well to the job of a leadoff man, albeit with an unusual approach.

Most leadoff hitters try to take pitches, work walks and get on base any way they can. With the bashers behind him, however, Henry has seen more quality pitches than most leadoff men and has hacked away.

He led the team in batting average before a late-season slump allowed Coghlan and Cozart to pass him.

He still ranks third on the team with a .341 average and is second with 77 hits and 57 runs scored. He’s also tied for second on the team with 17 stolen bases.

&#8220With those guys behind me, I’m seeing pretty good pitches. A lot of fastballs,” Henry said. &#8220I just try to get a pretty good swing.”