OXFORD — Virginia literally stole its way to Omaha.

The Cavaliers swiped six bases in Sunday’s decisive 5-1 win in Game 3 of the Oxford Super Regional.

Five of the thefts came in the two key innings that helped Virginia turn a 1-0 deficit into a commanding 4-1 lead.

“They were super aggressive the last two days, and maybe it was more of a surprise since they didn’t try that many attempts in the first game,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “But it is something they do well. They came in here with over 100 stolen bases.”

In the last two games of the super regional, Cavaliers were 11-for-11 on steal attempts.

“The stolen bases played a huge part in our game the last two days,” said Virginia’s Steven Proscia, who had two on the day to go with his three hits.

“When we get runners moving, things seem to happen for us. It’s going to take us to Omaha,” Proscia said.

Phil Gosselin, who stole both second and third in the fourth inning, said the Cavs took advantage of Ole Miss’ left-handed starters, Drew Pomeranz in Game 2 and Nathan Baker in Game 3.

“We were able to get a pretty good jump on the lefty. He was a little slow to the plate and we just seemed to guess right,” Gosselin said.

Bianco agreed, saying the Rebels didn’t do a good job on the defensive side.

“A lot of times they went on first moves,” Bianco added. “At times we had an opportunity to stop it. We threw down one time, and it was a close play. That is something we’ve normally been good at during the season, controlling the other team’s speed.”

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said the emphasis on the steal is a new strategy for this year’s College World Series-bound team.

“Our style changed this year. We were a team that bunted a lot. This year we didn’t bunt much, mainly because we weren’t good at it. But in the evolution of things, you change things. We had better swingers of the bat and we can steal bases,” O’Connor said.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com