Ole Miss becomes first top seed to fall at regionals

By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
June 6, 2004
OXFORD With Ole Miss facing elimination in the NCAA baseball regional, the Rebels needed a solid performance from their top pitcher on Saturday.
They didn't get it.
Mark Holliman lasted less than an inning and gave up five runs as No. 2 seeded Washington throttled top-seeded Ole Miss 6-2 on Saturday. The loss eliminated the Rebels from the double-elimination regional and ended their season at 39-21.
The loss was the sixth straight for the Rebels, who finished last in the four-team regional. Washington defeated Western Kentucky 4-1 in the night game and advanced to play Tulane today for the regional championship. The Huskies have to defeat the Green Wave twice.
Brent Lillibridge, who went 2-for-4, helped Washington seize momentum immediately in the top of the first. The Huskies leadoff hitter pulled a first-pitch fastball into left field, and while Rebels left fielder Charlie Babineaux casually fielded what appeared to be a routine single, Lillibridge turned hard at first and slid safely into second with a double.
Two batters later, Lillibridge scored Washington's first run on Zach Clem's RBI single.
Clean-up batter Kyle Larsen put the Huskies up 2-0, but Holliman struck out the next two Washington batters to reach the verge of escape. The next Huskies hitter, catcher Aaron Hathaway, dashed those hopes with a two-RBI triple crushed to right field. Hathaway later scored on Taylor Johnson's bloop single to right for a 5-0 Washington lead.
After Lillibridge walked in his second plate appearance of the inning, Holliman was pulled and stormed through his teammates into the dugout. In all, the Rebels ace threw 47 pitches and gave up five hits and five earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
Although Ole Miss mustered two runs, the Rebels never threatened the Huskies' lead. In the fourth inning, Brian Pettway scored from second base on Babineaux's two-out single to left field. Pettway, who was 2-for-3, slid wide to the outside of home plate, narrowly avoiding Hathaway's tag. It was Ole Miss' first run in 13 innings and trimmed Washington's lead to 5-1.
The Huskies added another run in the fifth on an RBI single from John Otness, but Head answered for the Rebels with a solo homer in the sixth. The blast was Head's team-high 13th home run of the season, but Ole Miss' second run of the game was it's last.
As they did in Friday's 1-0 loss to Western Kentucky, the Rebels saw a healthy dose of fastballs on Saturday, but failed to capitalize aside from Head's homer. Washington pitcher Kyle Parker (4-3) became the second hurler in as many days to pitch his first complete game.
Holliman also threw fastballs early, but when Washington jumped on him, the sophomore changed his strategy, albeit unsuccessfully.