FAYETTEVILLE | Houston Roth entered the game in the sixth inning Saturday with some work to do.

Ole Miss had a three-run lead in the must-win game two of the Fayetteville super regional, but Arkansas was chipping away, and the Razorback lineup was back to the top of the order. The quartet of Josh Ezell, Casey Martin, Matt Goodheart and Dominic Fletcher had torched the Rebels all weekend and would play a key role in this half inning of momentum.

Those top four spots for Arkansas were a combined 16-for-29 at that point during the series and 7-for-11 in Sunday’s game with four extra base hits.

Roth, however, silenced the situation and helped Ole Miss to the 13-5 victory.

“I thought he was really sharp today and he’s pitched well down the stretch for us,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “That’s as good as I’ve seen him against a really good offense. Just a good mix with the fastball, breaking ball and changeups. Fastball to both sides.”

He got quick fly outs from Ezell and Martin and then weathered a 2-2 double from Goodheart. With the runner on second and two outs, Fletcher harmlessly flew out to left on the second pitch of the at-bat.

Ole Miss scored three runs in the next half inning to move the lead back to six, effectively ending any drama for game two. Roth went the rest of the way -- including outs against all four of those leading Arkansas hitters later in the game -- and gave up two hits with three strikeouts and no walks. His 35 strikes out of 53 pitches put the Rebels’ bullpen in the best possible scenario for Sunday.

Austin Miller and Parker Caracci haven’t pitched yet, and Zack Phillips could be an option should starter Gunnar Hoglund struggle early in the game.

Roth, who was taken in the 29th round of last week’s MLB First Year Player Drafty by the Orioles, has been excellent for the Rebels since fully recovering from a shoulder injury that occurred back in February.

The junior has given up a run in only one of his last nine outings — a span of 19.1 innings. He has 18 strikeouts and three walks during that stretch.

“(Roth) is big time and just comes in during clutch situations and gets it done,” teammate Cole Zabowski said.