HOOVER, Ala.--Dominic Keegan's single to right scored Enrique Bradfield Jr., as Vanderbilt came from behind in the ninth to knock off Ole Miss, 5-4, in a Wednesday night/Thursday morning Southeastern Conference tournament game at the Hoover Met.

Keegan lashed an opposite-field pitch from Jack Dougherty into right as Bradfield raced home from third.

Vanderbilt shortstop Tate Kolwyck had two hits and drove in two runs for the Commodores (40-13), who'll face Arkansas in the late game on Thursday night.

The 'Dores trailed by a run heading into the ninth. But catcher C.J. Rodriguez blooped a single to left center to lead off and with two outs, Bradfield walked.

Isaiah Thomas then singled through the left side of the infield to score pinch-runner Javier Vaz and soon after, Bradfield took third on a wild pitch.

Keegan was down 1-2 in the count, fouled off two pitches and then lined one over second as the Commodores rushed the field and mobbed their first baseman in right field around 12:35 a.m.

“I just hit it where it was pitched,” Keegan replied when asked if he was looking to drive the ball to right. “Early in the count, I was looking for a fastball lower in the zone. Once [Bradfield took] third base I just put the ball in play."

Minutes before, the tune was much different. Ole Miss's Tim Elko had been a one-man wrecking crew, homering off both Hugh Fisher and Luke Murphy. The Rebel star provided all four Ole Miss RBIs and appeared destined to be the morning's hero until Vandy's bottom of the ninth.

Before Elko's home runs, another Commodore was the story of the night.

The Commodores, who've been in search of a dependable third starter, seemed to find one in Christian Little, who carved Ole Miss up for 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball while he was on the mound. But Little glanced down at his hand after a sixth-inning pitch to Kevin Graham, prompting a mound visit from the coaching staff and then his exit thereafter.

That's when the game changed for a while.

The Commodores brought in lefty Hugh Fisher, who walked Graham and then gave up a three-run, opposite-field home run to Elko.

Vanderbilt tied the game with a pair of runs in the sixth, but Elko connected with a two-out blast to center in the eighth.

"You’ve got to give Elko credit, he had two good swings," Corbin said.

Vandy gambled in the ninth, and it paid off. Rodriguez had already pinch-hit for Max Romero (who started behind the plate on Wednesday) and then Vaz pinch-ran for Rodriguez after his ninth-inning single. Then, Jack Bulger pinch-hit for starting third baseman Jayson Gonzalez, striking out in his lone plate appearance.

Had the game gone to extra innings, that would have left Vandy with either Keegan or seldom-used Alan Espinal behind the plate, and Vaz--who hasn't played much in weeks--probably filling in at second for Parker Noland, who'd likely have moved from second to third.

But Vandy coach Tim Corbin said that wasn't a big concern as he thought through those moves.

"You can’t win it unless you tie it," Corbin said. "We just needed to tie the game. ... We thought (Vaz) was the type of kid who could get second base."

Vaz did that and then some, scoring easily from second when Thomas lined the first pitch he saw through third.

Murphy, who threw 3 1/3 innings and struck out six, was also key. The only run he allowed was Elko's eighth-inning home run.

Little, Vandy's 17--year old, was terrific on Wednesday, baffling an outstanding offense with a fastball that sat 95-97, a change-up and some breaking balls mixed in.

"I think, first thing is, he was throwing a lot of strikes. …I thought his change-up was excellent and his breaking ball was good," Corbin said.

"Christian Little came out and it was probably his best performance of the year, he attacked the hitters really well," Keegan added.

Little was tremendous out of the gate, facing four hitters in the first and striking out two on change-ups of 88 and 89.

In the second, Little gave up a single and a 3-0 walk to start the inning. But he battled back to retire three in a row, fanning the last two, the biggest one being Cael Baker on an 82-mile-an-hour slider (swinging) with men at second and third.

After Ole Miss stranded a runner in the third, Little struck out the side in a dominant fourth, getting Elko on a 97-mile-an-hour fastball to start the inning, and Hayden Dunhurst swinging on an 82-mile-an-hour slider to end it.

In the fifth, Little had a seven-pitch inning that was over in the blink of an eye; that included a come-backer he fielded cleanly.

And then came the sixth. After a 1-2 pitch to Graham, Little glanced down briefly at his forearm or hand and that was enough to bring the coaching and training staff to the mound. After a lengthy discussion, Vandy removed Little from the game for Fisher.

Corbin clarified Little's situation afterwards, saying it was a cramp or muscle spasm, but that the team wanted to be careful.

VU 4: Kolwyck single past second scored Jones. VU, 1-0

MS 6: Elko home run scored Gonzalez and Graham. MS, 3-1

VU 6: Kowyck single through short scored Jones. MS, 3-2

VU 6: Rodriguez ground-out scored LaNeve. Tied-3

MS 8: Elko home run to center. MS, 4-3

VU 9: Thomas single through third scored Vaz. Tied-4

VU 9: Keegan single to right scored Bradfield. VU, 5-4