Tim Elko's clutch hit sends Ole Miss past Miami and into regional final

Jun. 5—Ole Miss senior first baseman Tim Elko came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday afternoon against No. 1 regional seed Miami with his Rebels hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position.

By the time the Rebels' captain was done at the plate, Ole Miss had its first lead of the day.

Trailing 1-0 in a pitcher's duel against the mighty Hurricanes, Elko hit a go-ahead two-run double with two outs against No. 6-ranked Miami to give the Rebels a 2-1 win to advance to Monday's Coral Gables regional final. Ole Miss (34-22) will play the winner of Sunday night's Arizona-Miami elimination game. It is the second time under head coach Mike Bianco that Ole Miss is 2-0 in a road regional.

The Rebels — the last team selected in the entire NCAA Baseball Tournament field — are one win away from a berth in the super regionals.

First pitch for Monday's game is noon.

"I thought it was a tremendous baseball game, on both sides. I thought both sides played really well," Bianco said. "Type of baseball game that you don't see much these days, especially in college baseball, a 2-1 game. We knew we were going to have our hands full with their left-hander, but just proud of our guys for hanging in there."

Freshman pitcher Hunter Elliott wasn't his sharpest but shined nonetheless, giving up one earned run over five innings with eight strikeouts and five walks, going shoulder-to-shoulder with Miami ace Carson Palmquist.

Elliott walked a tightrope early Sunday, issuing four walks through the first three innings. Miami (40-19) loaded the bases following a leadoff bunt single and a pair of walks in the first, but, Elliott rebounded to strike out two with the bases full to escape the jam without any damage done.

The Tupelo native made big pitches when it mattered and received great defensive help, particularly from sophomore shortstop Jacob Gonzalez. Elliott held Miami 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in the first five innings and struck out six-straight batters in the fourth and fifth.

"Coach always tells me my stuff's good enough to compete anywhere, against anybody. So, that's really what stuck in my head that entire time," Elliott said. "I was battling. Couldn't find the fastball, couldn't find the slider, changeup, anything early. But that's what makes starting sometimes hard is, you can just go continue to go, and you have three, four innings to figure it out. And in the fifth, I kind of figured it out and started figuring it out late."

Elliott's pitch count caught up to him in the sixth, as he left after a walk and single put runners on the corners with no outs. Fellow freshman Mason Nichols entered in relief and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Jacob Burke to break the scoreless tie.

Ole Miss struggled to square up Palmquist most of the day, however, mustering just one hit off the lefty through five innings. But in the sixth, a single from sophomore Jacob Gonzalez and walk from Elko put runners on base and, one wild pitch later, moved them to second and third.

A walk to junior catcher Hayden Dunhurst with two outs loaded the bases up for Saturday night's hero, junior second baseman Peyton Chatagnier. Chatagnier hit a ground ball up the middle that Miami's infielder was able to field and toss to second, just beating Dunhurst to the bag to end the inning.

As fate would have it, though, Ole Miss got another chance to get a big hit in the seventh. And Elko capitalized, smashing a double to right center to put his team ahead once and for all. It was an emotional moment for the Rebels' captain and his teammates.

"For moments like that, that's what you play for. Just to see your teammates getting fired up with you, and that's what makes playing this game so fun," Elko said. "It's moments like that."

After Elko delivered his clutch moment, it was up to senior closer Brandon Johnson to get the final five outs. Johnson — who pitched Saturday night as well — struck out the side in the ninth.

Johnson had a stretch earlier in the middle of the season where he struggled, surrendering 14 earned runs over five appearances. He has given up just three earned runs in his last 10 appearances.

"I think resiliency, short memory — whatever you want to say — as a closer, you have to have that. Because, let's face it, you usually only get the ball if the game's on the line," Bianco said. "And so sometimes, if you don't make a pitch, it's different. If you're a starter, if you give up a run, you're going to be OK as long as you get some outs and get a little deeper in the game. If you're a closer, sometimes you blow the save.

"He's been resilient. He's been able to handle it, like all the great closers that we've ever had."

MICHAEL KATZ is the Ole Miss athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at michael.katz@djournal.com.