OXFORD – When Texas relief pitcher J. Brent Cox struck out Stephen Head to end the Super Regionals on Monday night, it ended a run that brought the Ole Miss Rebels to national prominence in three short years.

Now the hard part begins.

The Rebels had eight players drafted – six juniors on the draft’s first day and a pair of seniors on the second day. The entire weekend pitching rotation of Mark Holliman, Matt Maloney and Eric Fowler were among that group, as were first-team All-American Brian Pettway and second team All-American Stephen Head.

The chance of any of them returning for their senior seasons is unlikely at best.

“There are about four or five of us who are going to have to come back and carry on what people like Pettway and Head have done for this program,” redshirt freshman Justin Henry said. “They were the big men for us this year and we’re going to have to come out next year and try to carry us like they did this year.”

Henry found a spot in the leadoff position and held it throughout the regionals. He ended the season with a .374 batting average, second on the team. Sophomore third baseman Chris Coghlan hit .363, sophomore outfielder Mark Wright hit ,311 and freshman Zack Cozart ended the year at .281. Those three will be counted on to provide the bulk of the Rebels’ offense, while a depleted pitching staff will be forced to grow up quickly.

“You don’t do this to do it once every four years,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said of reaching the Super Regionals. “We have some great players coming back and some that were redshirted.

“We also have what I feel, is our best recruiting class to date coming in. So we plan to be back here next year and hopefully take it a step further.”

Ole Miss lost in the Super Regionals to a Texas team that is certainly used to losing players to the draft. The Longhorns had seven players and seven recruits drafted last week, but are now preparing for their national record 32nd trip to the College World Series. The Longhorns have won five national championships.

“Once you recruit the players, the most important thing is player developement,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “It’s an ongoing process where Mike (Bianco) will be challenged and he’ll go through phases. The next phase will be he will be the target next year and his team will have to step it up.

“They will have to stay focused on the game itself and they do a great job of that.”

Ole Miss set school records for wins in a season with 48 and made it further than any other Ole Miss team since 1972.

Along the way, the Rebels won a share of the Southeastern Conference Western Divison championship, a regional and nearly a Super Regional.

“Having 10,000 fans in the stands every game was good. We didn’t have that our freshman year,” Pettway said. “To know that we helped make it that way is nice. It’s really exciting here now. Hopefully it will stay that way.”