The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Ranked No. 16 By Baseball America
1/5/2005 | Baseball
Jan. 5, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss is ranked No. 16 in the nation in the preseason Baseball America Top 25 poll, released Wednesday. The Rebels are one of six Southeastern Conference teams to be ranked in the preseason Baseball America Top 25.
Tulane is the preseason No. 1, followed by LSU at No. 2, Cal State Fullerton at No. 3, Texas at No. 4 and Miami (FL) at No. 5. Other SEC teams include No. 7 South Carolina, No. 10 Georgia, No. 15 Florida and No. 17 Vanderbilt.
Ole Miss was also ranked preseason No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
Junior 1B/LHP Stephen Head was named a first team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball as a utility player, and junior RHP Mark Holliman earned third team preseason All-America honors.
"Obviously, we're very happy to earn a top 20 preseason ranking," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "We're also very proud of Stephen and Mark for receiving preseason All-America recognition. Both are very deserving and we're certainly counting on them to have big years for us."
Head batted .346 with 13 HRs and 53 RBIs in 60 games last season. On the mound, he made 17 appearances, including eight starts, going 6-3, with five saves, and a 2.82 ERA in 70.1 innings pitched. Head also earned SEC co-Player of the Year honors last spring and was one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, amateur baseball's most prestigious award.
Holliman went 9-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 16 starts last year. He also recorded 101 strikeouts in 106.1 innings pitched and tossed three complete games in earning first team All-SEC honors.
The Rebels went 39-21 last season and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the third time in four years under head coach Mike Bianco. Last spring, Ole Miss also played host to its first-ever NCAA Regional.
Ole Miss is scheduled to open its 2005 campaign on Feb. 15 at home against Arkansas State.
