Ole Miss overcame a difficult week to post its best series win of the season, taking two from Vanderbilt thanks to Doug Nikhazy’s Friday effort and an offensive onslaught on Sunday.

The Rebels travel to Georgia (29-20, RPI 38) to close the regular season after a midweek home finale with UT Martin on Tuesday. Ole Miss is 36-15 overall and 16-11 in the SEC. Vanderbilt fell to 36-12 (17-19).

Ole Miss has had a winning conference record in 14 of Bianco’s 20 SEC seasons.

Ole Miss guaranteed a winning conference record on Sunday and should be lock to host a regional in Oxford as long at it wins at least one game in Athens — thanks to conference record and those three wins in Arlington which are right now against RPI teams 3, 5 and 8.

The Rebels are 12th in the RPI, falling from ninth at one point Friday thanks to some scores with Ole Miss opponents. Fairfield is No. 2 in the RPI thanks to its scheduling gimmick, so the Rebels are actually 11th among host-eligible teams.

Ole Miss is currently sixth in the SEC standings, a game back of Mississippi State and Florida. Barring a sweep in Athens, it’s a difficult picture to see the Rebels in the top four seeds in Hoover to get a bye or to join the top-eight NCAA seed conversation.

“At the end of the day, you just have to win and take care of your business.”

Mike Bianco tinkered with the top half of his lineup on Sunday, and freshmen TJ McCants and Jacob Gonzalez followed through with offensive performances to help carry the Rebels in the 13-10 win.

Bianco shifted McCants to the leadoff spot and Gonzalez to the three spot, and they responded with a combined 5-for-8 afternoon. McCants scored three times, picked up two hits and stole a base, while Gonzalez had one of the best stat lines of the season — three hits, three runs, four RBIs, two home runs and two walks — in reaching base five times.

Gonzalez leads Ole Miss with a .347 average and McCants is tied for second at .342. Gonzalez is also second in total bases and walks. McCants is hitting .367 in SEC play.

“McCants has played like that for a long, long time,” Mike Bianco said. “The move was because we knew he could handle it. Sometimes you have to juggle it a little bit… move him to the front and put Jacob in position to hit with runners on and Dunhurst to maybe get better pitches. In the four-hole you get pitched differently.”

Sophomore Hayden Dunhurst, hitting in the sixth spot, had three hits including a double and a home run. It was his first three-hit game since April 11 and his third multi-hit game since April 23.

Jack Dougherty, another freshman, got the final two outs of the eighth inning by strikeout, stranding a runner, though he allowed one inherited runner to score. Dougherty is averaging a strikeout per inning and is holding opponents to a .129 batting average against in league play.

Peyton Chatagnier, who hits in the two-hole in the Ole Miss lineup, is hitting .248 in conference play and is 4-for-28 in the last seven games. He’s had multiple hits in two of his last 15 SEC games.

Bianco acknowledged the lack of hits but said he’s not concerned and that Chatagnier feels comfortable at the plate and has been unlucky lately.

“Sometimes it just happens because of the way you’re being pitched,” Bianco said. “He’s hit some balls hard so that’s why you have to be careful with he’s scuffling or he’s slumping. Yesterday he hits a ball 105 (MPH) off the bat that ends up being a double play. In the box it’s a double play but in our standpoint, you can’t do anymore than that… He’s had some of those and some near-misses.

“He doesn’t look uncomfortable up there. That’s why I wouldn’t say scuffling (the word I used in the question). He hasn’t gotten the hits he wants or we want him to have, but he’s going to be fine.”