Ole Miss baseball falls to Vanderbilt, 5-4, in Hoover

Tim Elko had a legendary game with two home runs on one ACL, but Ole Miss came up short against Vanderbilt on Wednesday night by a final of 5-4.

The Rebels led 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth thanks to a three-run home run and a solo shot from Tim Elko, but Jack Dougherty, who had been lights-out heading into the inning, might have been left in a bit too long as he surrendered the lead and the game.

There are some positive takeaways from Wednesday night, the first of which is Ole Miss is still alive in the tournament and will face Georgia at 1 p.m. on Thursday (thank God it’s not the late game again).

You can also draw positives from Derek Diamond’s start on the hill. Diamond, who was absolutely shelled by Vandy in the regular season meeting, went 5.1 innings, striking out eight, giving up four hits and two earned runs. For a team that will definitely need him to perform well in a regional, that’s a good sign moving forward.

Dougherty came in to relieve Jackson Kimbrell after he got in a spot of trouble and the freshman was tremendously psychotic. The Collierville, Tenn. native struck out five in three innings of work, showing that he, too, can be counted on at the back end of a game.

Ole Miss needs to take advantage of Georgia today since the loser of this game goes home. The Bulldogs have their collective back against the wall after being waxed by Arkansas yesterday, but Ole Miss is the better team and needs to show it. Win as many games as you can in Hoover with hopes of improving your NCAA Tournament seeding, and let the cards fall where they may.

Before I let you go, I’ll leave you with these videos of Tim Elko going yik yak on one leg in Hoover Met. Have a nice day, and see you at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

Also, an important note on the human anatomy and the haters and losers (of which there are many) who are furious: