With both teams hanging on for dear life to one of the 12 precious spots in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Ole Miss and Mississippi State entered this weekend’s series needing some people to step up with big-time performances.

Ole Miss’ Errol Robinson was the first to answer the bell.

Robinson drove in a career-high three runs, all with two outs, and the Rebels beat Mississippi State 4-3 Thursday night in the series opener in Oxford.

Robinson was 2-for-4. He doubled in two runs in the fourth inning, then had an RBI double in the eighth to bring in what turned out to be the winning run.

“We didn’t have a lot of hits, but some guys came through with hits with runners in scoring position, and that’s what you need in this kind of game,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “Both teams played really well and both teams pitched really well, and it comes down to a timely hit.”

Ole Miss (26-24, 12-13 SEC) inched closer to locking up a spot in the conference tournament, while Mississippi State (24-25, 8-17) all but assured itself of having to win next week’s season-ending series at Tennessee (19-24, 7-17) to get in.

Right now, the Bulldogs are in 12th place and in possession of the last spot in the tournament. They’ve lost 13 of their last 16 games.

Georgia (22-25, 7-16) and Alabama (25-24, 8-16) are also fighting for the last tournament berth.

“We just aren’t getting any breaks,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said. “It was a pretty even game. We had 15 hard hits and only had seven hits from them. You can hit the ball harder than your opponent and still make great pitches and lose. I am proud of the kids and how hard they are competing.”

Ole Miss is in ninth place in the conference, and is now four games clear of both Alabama and Mississippi State with five to play. A win tonight in the second game of the series with the Bulldogs would likely clinch a spot in the tournament.

Game two of the series is today at 6 p.m.

“It’s really important to finish strong,” Ole Miss pitcher Christian Trent said. “We have six games left. It’s crucial that we give it our all and really finish out strong.”

Robinson’s two-run double in the third inning broke a scoreless tie, and he scored on a single by Nic Perkins to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead.

Mississippi State tied it with a three-spot in the sixth, however. Gavin Collins’ RBI double put the Bulldogs on the board, and a two-run single by Wes Rea evened the score.

Rea and Brent Rooker both finished with two hits for the Bulldogs. Ryan Gridley had a double and scored a run, and Seth Heck also scored once.

In the bottom of the eighth, Robinson put Ole Miss ahead for good. An error and a stolen base put pinch-runner Kyle Watson at second base, and he scored on Robinson’s double to left field.

Closer Wyatt Short pitched a scoreless ninth for the Rebels to earn his eighth save of the season.

Mississippi State fell to 5-6 in one-run ballgames, while Ole Miss improved to 9-3.

“These are tight ballgames and the margin for error is small,” Cohen said. “For whatever reason, we just aren’t winning more of these.”

Trent (7-5) went eight innings, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out six. The junior left-hander gave up three runs, only two of which were earned, and scattered seven hits.

“It was a good night all around,” Trent said. “The offense was good. I felt great out there, and the defense was good again. It’s good to come out on top against the rival, especially in the first game.”

Lucas Laster got the start for Mississippi State and pitched 5 1/3 innings. He gave up three runs on four hits, walked two and struck out one.

Zac Houston (0-2) came out of the bullpen to pitch 2 2/3 innings. He struck out five batters and walked one, but was tagged with the loss when Robinson touched him for the go-ahead double in the eighth inning.

Although Houston gave up the winning run, Cohen said he was happy with the reliever’s overall effort.

“Credit to Zac Houston there at the end for really filling the strike zone,” Cohen said.