WATCH: Ole Miss outfielder TJ McCants explains mindset on his home run that sparked scoring frenzy

Ole Miss outfielder TJ McCants just wanted to get the job done when he stepped up to the plate in the eighth inning, but he ended up doing much more. The Rebels led Oklahoma by a score of 4-2 in the opening contest of the College World Series at the time and wanted to put the game away for good.

Not only did McCants get the hit he needed, but he got ahold of it in exactly the right spot. He sent the ball sailing toward right field and over the fence to give his team some extra cushion it was looking for. His home run ended up being the first of what were three straight for Ole Miss as Calvin Harris and Justin Bench each had solo shots directly after.

That stretch proved pivotal, as it forced Oklahoma to make a change at pitcher. The Rebels went on to add two more runs in the ninth inning to put a bow on the victory.

“Honestly, I just wanted to get the run in,” McCants said postgame. “That was my job. We had two outs and I just wanted to get a pitch to hit and it ended up going over the fence.”

"We gotta come out and play our best baseball tomorrow"@OleMissBSB takes Game 1 of the Finals! @AnaBellMedia was with @mccants_tj after defeating OU, 10-3.#MCWS | @d1baseball pic.twitter.com/Ryb6Bw5jdG

— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) June 26, 2022

The home run was the eighth of the season for McCants and his first during the College World Series. Ole Miss finished the game with a total of four home runs after Tim Elko went yard in the third inning. The victory also means the Rebels are now just one more win away from celebrating a national championship.

“We’ve been practicing really hard,” McCants said. “We came back from the drought that we were in around the middle of the season, so getting to this point has meant a lot for our confidence and we’ve just got to keep going with it.”

There will be no rest for either the Sooners or Rebels, as the two teams are set to meet again at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. TJ McCants knows that if Ole Miss is to close out the series in that one, it can’t get too focused on the prize.

“Just keep playing how we’ve been playing,” he said. “Take it one pitch at a time and I think we’ll get the job done.”