When Tim Elko stumbled behind the first base bag and crumpled into a heap on April 5, it felt as if all the goals and hopes of the Ole Miss baseball team crumbled with him.
The Rebel captain was coming off a career month at the plate in March, putting up obscene numbers, earning a National Player of the Month honor in the process. The slumping Ole Miss offense was rounding into shape to match the power pitching of Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy.
When Elko went down, tearing his ACL, it signaled one of the worst stretches of baseball in program history.