Ole Miss baseball takes victory lap on final college baseball rankings
They say it’s lonely at the top – and Ole Miss baseball can’t relate.
Every major college baseball outlet – D1Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, CB, NCBWA and USA Today – have all selected the 2022 National Championship-winning Rebels as their No. 1 team in their respective final rankings of the college baseball season.
Ole Miss won the first national title in school history last month after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 4-2 in Game 2 of their College World Series Final matchup.
A number of Rebels players made a name for themselves, proving crucial to their historic run – one of those being their team captain, Tim Elko. The Ole Miss slugger made some history of his own, becoming the first player in program history with two home runs in the College World Series and forever etching his name into the Ole Miss, NCAA and CWS record books for years to come.
Elko had already become a folk hero among his peers and fans alike for his history of heroics in big games and larger-than-life image on the baseball diamond. Following the national title win, fans and teammates alike joked that Elko and his poster-boy mustache should have a statue in Oxford erected in his honor.
The road for Elko was not always sunshine and home runs, though. He hit .214 with three total home runs across his first two years with the Rebels before a hot start in 2020 with a .354 average, three home runs and 15 RBI was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Elko proved his worth, batting .325 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI’s. In the middle of that season, he suffered a torn ACL, but miraculously returned just a month later, and continued playing through pain in his knee. Rested and healthier in his fifth season, Elko hit .300 and totaled 24 home runs and 75 RBIs en route to finishing his collegiate career as a national champion – and is now a Rebels legend.
“There’s so much to be said about how much we overcame this year, how much we had to fight through, how much we had to pick each other up and never let ourselves get too down,” Elko said. “This story of our season is going to be told for years and years and years to come.
“This is the best Ole Miss baseball team in history, and it feels so good, and it’s an honor to be a part of it.”