Mississippi’s Tim Elko points skyward as he runs around the bases after hitting his second home run against Southern Mississippi during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game Monday, June 7, 2021, in Oxford, Miss.
Mississippi’s Tim Elko gets ready to touch home plate and celebrate with his teammates after hitting a grand slam in the third inning against Southeast Missouri State during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game Friday, June 4, 2021, in Oxford, Miss.
Tim Elko hasn’t let a torn ACL keep him from powering Mississippi’s postseason run.
In fact, it has scarcely slowed him down — at the plate, at least.
The Rebels’ team captain is coming off a huge regional — three home runs, including a pair of grand slams — to help Ole Miss advance to the super regional at Arizona starting Friday.
Elko has been playing for more than a month on a torn right ACL sustained in a game against North Alabama on April 5. On what started as an apparently routine groundout, his knee buckled while Elko tried to dodge the first baseman after an errant throw.
“The risks weren’t high enough for me not to want to give it a go,” Elko, who plans to have surgery shortly after the season ends, said Thursday in a phone interview. “That’s why I have and I’m really happy that I did.”
He returned as a pinch-hitter 26 days after the injury. A week after that, Elko had a three-run homer against Texas A&M after coming into the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.
He has continued to deliver big hits in the postseason.
Rebels coach Mike Bianco raves over his team captain’s feats since the injury.
“Holy cow. It’s legendary,” Bianco said. “What seemed like maybe one of the biggest tragedies of not just our season but somebody’s career here, getting hurt in early April, has turned into one of the biggest legends that we’ll all be talking about for decades.
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