Friday Night Starter

Sometimes, the best pitchers are the ones that lull hitters to sleep. They are the ones who keep hitters off balance – mixing a little of this with a little of that – and before you know it, it is the seventh inning and your team has yet to score a run.
Then, there is the case of the pitcher who pitches so well, he can lull his own team to sleep.
Ole Miss first baseman/pitcher Stephen Head said that Rebel ace pitcher Mark Holliman would occasionally do just that last season. Head said the Rebel hitters knew they didn’t have to score many runs when Holliman was on the mound, and sometimes they would get lax once they took a lead.
“I think maybe it hurt us last year,” Head said. “I know we scored in the third inning against Arkansas (May 7), and I said, ‘This one is over.’ He threw almost a perfect game, and we beat them 1-0. It is almost bad to the point that he pitches so well that it takes the pressure off of us. We just don’t score as many runs. If we score two runs, we think the game is over.”
Holliman allowed just three hits in the complete-game shutout against Arkansas in a key win late last season.
As Holliman (9-3 with a 3.05 ERA last season) gets ready for this season, which the Rebels open against Arkansas State on Feb. 15, he said he likes the pressure of a low-scoring game.
“I don’t go into the game looking for them to score a lot of runs,” Holliman said. “I like them having to depend on me. I like being the person who is going to go out there and only give up one run. Once they get a couple of runs, I look at it like it’s over.”
Holliman, who was selected first-team All-SEC last season, is slated to get his first action this season against Lamar Friday, Feb. 18, when the Rebels open the Rice Tournament in Houston.
He brings continuity at the top of a Rebel staff that returns six pitchers who threw at least 25 innings last season. It will be the first time since 2002 that the Rebels have returned their Friday-night ace.
It’s a fact that has head coach Mike Bianco feeling a little bit more comfortable.
“When you’re searching for a Friday night guy, it can be a little scary when you start the season,” Bianco said. “We realize that you have to play the game and that you have to win and that Mark is going to have to have another big year. That being said, it makes you feel a little bit better than if you had a new junior college guy or another new guy. We know we have a guy who filled that role last year and was super dominant.”
Not only are the Rebels retuning an ace, they are returning a guy who finished first-team All-SEC last season. Ole Miss catcher Barry Gunther compared Holliman to former Vanderbilt pitcher Jeremy Sowers, who was the sixth pick in last June’s Major League Baseball draft. He said Holliman is a guy opposing teams will dread to face.
“He’s one of those guys who is so dominant,” Gunther said. “He brings the ball at 95 or 96 miles an hour, and he throws four different pitches. I don’t care if you’re in triple-A or in the Major Leagues, it’s definitely hard to hit a guy who throws at that level.”
Gunther also wasn’t immune to feeling extra-relaxed when Holliman was in the mound. In his case, the somniferous effects set in while he was catching.
“I remember the games against Alabama and Mississippi State last season; I could fall asleep back there,” Gunther said. “I put the glove down, and he didn’t miss. I didn’t have to move. When he’s on, guys have no shot.”
The Rebels will certainly depend on Holliman to be on again this season.
With pitchers Head, Anthony Cupps, Eric Fowler, Brian Pettway and Matt Maloney all joining Holliman as returnees, the pitching staff looks to be the strength of this year’s team.
And Holliman is the rock of that staff.
Last season, the Rebels won their first five SEC Friday night games that Holliman started. And it is Friday night victories that give a team momentum for the rest of the weekend.
Holliman said he took the summer off of pitching in order to lift weights and build his arm strength. He added that he worked on improving mechanical flaws and will still throw all four pitches – fastball, slider, changeup, curveball – that he threw last season.
“I went back and looked at everything that happened last year,” Holliman said.
“I’m going to stick with what I’ve been doing. I just want to build on that.”
Holliman said that he doesn’t feel pressure to carry the pitching staff.
“There are so many talented guys behind me that I know that if something does happen to me, I know I’ve got somebody who is going to back me up and get them out,” Holliman said.
“I’m not the only player out there.”