Tim Elko Named National Player of the Week

Rebel Third Baseman Went 10-for-17 with Five Home Runs, 13 RBI

TUCSON, Ariz. – (Courtesy of Ole Miss Media Relations) After clubbing five home runs in five games as No. 4 Ole Miss baseball went 5-0, senior third baseman Tim Elko earned National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball on Monday.

Elko was 10-for-17 (.558) in five games with eight runs scored, a double, five home runs and 13 RBI. The senior out of Lutz, Florida, slugged an astonishing 1.529. He also walked five times and struck out just once, notching a .708 on-base percentage for an OPS of 2.237.

The Rebel captain was off to a slow start to the 2021 season, hitting just .120 coming into the week, but he raised his batting average nearly .200 points, capping the week at a .310 mark for the season.

The Preseason All-SEC third baseman homered in three straight games to begin the week, notching a combined nine RBI in those three contests. While the homer spell ended briefly as he went 2-for-3 without an extra-base hit on Saturday, it came back in a big way Sunday as Elko punctuated the weekend with his first career multi-homer game, going 2-for-3 with a pair of homers, three runs scored and four RBI as the Rebels edged Belmont to claim a series sweep.

The torrid week vaulted Elko to No. 5 in the nation in home runs and second in the SEC behind South Carolina’s Wes Clarke (8). He also climbed to 38th in the nation and seventh in the conference in RBI, tied with Kevin Graham at 14.

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.