OXFORD, Miss _ It took 10 innings but the University of Central Arkansas Bears finally secured their biggest victory in their short Division I baseball history Tuesday night.

Chris Houk knocked in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Matt Humphrey put together a solid relief effort to carry the Bears past the No. 8 Ole Miss Rebels at Oxford-University Stadium.

The Bears (8-11) used six pitchers in the game but Humphrey, a junior right-hander from Maumelle, went the final 2.2 innings and struck out four, including two big strikeouts in the bottom of the 10th inning.

After falling behind in the 10th on Houk's RBI double to right-center, the Rebels (13-6) pinch hit David Kindred and Humphrey struck him out looking. Jordan Henry, who was 0 for 5, singled to left-center but Humphrey came back and struck out Michael Hubbard and got leading hitter Cody Overbeck to pop up to shortstop Bobby Pritchett to end the game.

"That was big for this program,' said UCA head coach Doug Clark. "I kept saying we've got great kids. We've been battling and we were telling them we were close. It’s not like we're there yet, but something like this will take you a long way.

"This is a big win. This is an SEC school. Chris Houk was huge and Matt Humphrey. The whole pitching staff did a nice job, but Humphrey, four strikeouts in 2.2 innings, that was really nice. Great job by him.'

The Bears got nine hits, with four players combining for eight of them. Houk, Kevin Rawls, Chris Davis and Payton Seelinger had two hits each, with Houk finishing 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.

The Rebels grabbed an early lead with single runs in the first and second innings. The first run, courtesy of an RBI single by Logan Power, came off UCA starter Jeremy Cloud, who was pitching for the first time this year after preseason surgery. In the second inning, Reece Cross relieved for the Bears and allowed a groundout RBI to Jordan Henry.

The Bears evened it in the top of the fifth inning with a two-out, two-run rally. Kevin Rawls walked and advanced to second when Ole Miss pitcher Phillip Irwin threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt. Josh Huffman then drew a walk before senior catcher Chris Davis lined a double down the left-field line to score both baserunners.

Houk gave the Bears the lead in the sixth inning with a solo home run to right center, the 17 home run of his career, tying him for sixth in school history. Ole Miss reliever Scott Bittle came on and got out of the inning with a pop up and strikeout.

The Rebels tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on a hit by pitch by reliever Michael Wild, a wild pitch and a throwing error on reliever James Parsons on a sacrifice bunt attempt that allowed Matt Smith to score.

Parsons got in trouble in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on first and second with no outs before giving way to Jeremy Brewer. Brewer forced Michael Guerrero to ground out to a leaping Jonathan Yerby at third for the first out. The next two batters grounded out, to second and shortstop, to end the threat.

Davis led off the eighth inning with a single and then stole second. Kent Taylor then worked a base on balls and both runners advanced on a wild pitch by Bittle. But the junior righthander then struck out Houk, Scott Cline and Yerby in order to escape the inning.

The Rebels put a runner on in the bottom of the eighth and Matt Humphrey came in to pitch with one out. He walked Brett Basham but got Jordan Henry to fly out to right field for the second out and forced a groundout to end the inning.

Richey Irvin pinch hit to open the ninth and was called out on strikes. Payton Seelinger then hit a high popup that ended up falling between the shortstop, third baseman and left fielder for a one-out double. Rawls walked and Huffman went down on strikes to bring up Davis, who hit a foul popup to first base.

Cody Overbeck, the Rebels' leading hitter, stroked a double to center field to lead off the bottom of the inning. Guerrero’s sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third with no outs. The Bears intentionally walked Logan Power and Matt Smith to load the bases to bring up Zach Miller. Humphrey struck him out on a 1-2 changeup for the second out.

Humphrey then finished it off with a strikeout of Tim Ferguson on a curve ball in the dirt.

Taylor drew a walk in the 10th off reliever Justin Cryer, with Tye Throneberry pinch running for him. Houk then drove a line drive into the right-center gap for an RBI double and the go-ahead run with no outs. Cline walked and Yerby struck out for the first out and Bobby Pritchett grounded out for the second.

Reliever Rory McKean then struck out Seelinger to end the threat.