By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
The 2022 Ole Miss baseball team is headed to Omaha after a spectacular run in regional and super regional play.
Captain Tim Elko met with the media prior to practice on Tuesday about the accomplishment.
“It has sunk in now (that we are going to the CWS),” Elko said. “I grew up watching the college world series and been dreaming of getting there the last few years.”
For the Elko who is a three-time captain for the red and blue it’s a dream come true to get to play in Omaha.
“I am fired up to get there,” he said.
In May, Ole Miss sat with a 7-14record in SEC play with nine games remaining to try and make the conference tournament. Ole Miss ended on a 7-2 run in conference action to finish the regular season.
In the SEC Tournament, the Rebels fell to Vanderbilt 2-1 in the opening round. Almost a week later, the team got selected into the field of 64 and have been on fire since winning five-straight games.
“It has been super fun getting to play and playing our best baseball,” Elko said. “We obviously got hot here at the end and it has been a cool journey.”
This season, the Lutz, Florida native comes into Omaha with.302 average and 22 home runs with 71 RBIs. For his career, Elko has belted a total of 44 home runs.
Elko and his teammates are joining three other clubs from the SEC West in Arkansas, Auburn and Texas A&M left standing in the CWS.
“It just shows that the SEC West is gauntlet week-in and week-out,” Elko said. “There is a lot of really good teams in the SEC.”
The Auburn Tigers will be the Rebels first opponent in Omaha on Saturday night. This season, Ole Miss took the series on the road.
“They have a good pitching staff and really good offense,” Elko said.
Elko and the Rebels will take on Auburn on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
