Ole Miss stayed in the game Sunday with the long ball, then won with the help of some small ball.

Sikes Orvis hit a pair of solo home runs, and Kyle Watson scored what proved to be the winning run on a squeeze bunt in the eighth inning as the Rebels beat Missouri 4-3.

Ole Miss (25-24, 11-13 Southeastern Conference) salvaged the series finale after losing the first two games. It’ll host archrival Mississippi State in a crucial series beginning Thursday night in Oxford.

Twelve teams in the 14-team SEC will advance to the conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama that begins May 19.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State are currently tied for 11th place, a game ahead of both Georgia and Tennessee.

Mississippi State lost two out of three to LSU this weekend and, after playing Ole Miss, finishes the regular season with a road series at Tennessee.

Ole Miss plays second-ranked Texas A&M to finish the regular season, so every win from here on out is huge.

“This was one that we had to have, and the guys played great,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said.

Junior Connor Cloyd went 3-for-3 for Ole Miss. He reached base all four times he stepped to the plate and recording his eighth multi-hit game in the past 10 contests.

In his first career start and playing in his home state, freshman Nic Perkins recorded his second straight multi-hit game with a pair of singles.

“It was awesome to play in front of them (family and friends),” said Perkins, a native of St. Charles, Missouri. “When I get my opportunity, I try to make the best of it.”

Orvis went deep in the second and the fourth innings. His second home run hit off Missouri’s indoor practice facility, 420 feet away from home plate. It was the second multiple-home run game of Orvis’ career.

Cloyd brought in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and went up 4-1 in the eighth when Watson scored on J.B. Woodman’s squeeze bunt.

Missouri, however, cut its deficit to a single run in the bottom of the eighth. Two singles put runners in scoring position, and Brett Bond drove both in with a one-out single.

The Tigers (28-20, 14-10) left the tying run on base, however, and Wyatt Short pitched a perfect ninth inning for his seventh save of the season.

“We just had to pitch out of too many situations today. We came up a little bit short,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said.

Scott Weathersby (4-1) started and got the win for Ole Miss after pitching 3 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on four hits, walked two and struck out one.

Weathersby, normally a reliever, made his second start of the week and was on a strict pitch count. He threw seven innings in a win over Mississippi State on Tuesday.

Jacob Waguespack allowed two runs while working the middle 3 1/3 innings for the Rebels.