OXFORD – The upset bug bit many schools on the first day of NCAA baseball regionals Friday.

The Ole Miss Rebels barely missed being added to the list.

Justin Brashear and Mark Wright hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Rebels (41-20) defeated a pesky Bethune Cookman College team, 3-2, in front of a boisterous crowd of 7,018 at Oxford-University Stadium.

&#8220This time of year, anybody can beat anybody,” said former Vicksburg High standout Justin Henry, who had a single in the win. &#8220You can’t take any team lightly. They came out and played really well.”

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Wildcats (30-26) did not get a hit off Ole Miss starter Will Kline until the fifth inning, but had five of their six hits in a seventh inning rally that gave them a 2-1 lead.

With Spencer Hill on second base, Jose Almonte hit a seeing-eye ground ball destined for center field, which would have scored Hill easily.

Henry lunged to his left and kept the ball from going into the outfield, keeping the deficit at 2-1. Kline then struck out Chris Henault to end the inning and set up Ole Miss’ power surge.

&#8220We are taught with a guy on second base to just keep the ball in the infield,” said the Ole Miss second baseman. &#8220I knew I didn’t have a play at first, so I pump faked to try to get the guy out at third. Then Will came up with a huge strikeout.”

With most of the capacity crowd in hushed disbelief, Brashear hit R.J. Rodriguez’s first pitch deep into right field to tie the game at two. Two pitches later, Mark Wright drove a homer deep over the left field wall to give the Rebels a 3-2 lead.

The blast not only gave the Rebels a lead, but ignited the overflow crowd.

&#8220We feel like we need to answer any time the other team scores and tonight was no different,” Brashear said. &#8220He just left a change-up up in the zone.”

Kline pitched a perfect eighth inning, then gave way to Garrett White, who struck out the side to send the Rebels into the winner’s bracket against South Alabama.

It also sets up a quasi-reunion with Henry and South Alabama’s Aaron George. The two played on the Vicksburg Crush, an 11-year-olds’ all-star team. George did not play in the Jaguars’ 7-1 win over Tulane in the opening game of the regional, but he has started 43 of 46 games this season for USA.