Another page in The Legend of Tim Elko was written Friday night as #1 seed Ole Miss baseball topped #4 seed Southeast Missouri, 6-3, to open NCAA Oxford Regional play. The senior captain, playing on a torn right ACL, broke a 0-0 tie in the 3rd inning, launching a grand slam home run over the right field wall.
He was one of eight Rebels with a hit on the night, including multi-hit nights from Kevin Graham, TJ McCants and Cael Baker. Baker scored a team-best two runs, while McCants and Peyton Chatagnier supplied the Rebels’ two RBI outside of Elko’s four.
On the mound, Derek Diamond turned in a solid start, allowing just two hits and one unearned run in 4.1 innings, which crossed after he had exited the game. Jack Dougherty was solid in relief, yielding two runs, one earned, on four hits while striking out four and walking none over 3.0 innings. From there, Taylor Broadway tossed 1.2 perfect innings with three strikeouts as he picked up his 14th save of the season to claim sole possession of the Rebels’ single-season saves record.
The top-seeded Rebels advance to the winner’s bracket, where they will face #3 seed Florida State. First pitch is set for 5 PM CT on Saturday. Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco, the hero of the night Tim Elko, and closer Taylor Broadway all met with the media to discuss the win postgame last night.