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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Six Rebels Earn SEC Honors
5/24/2021 | Baseball
Elko, Nikhazy, Dunhurst, Bench, Gonzalez and McCants Earn SEC Year-End Awards
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Six Ole Miss baseball players combined to earn eight year-end honors from the Southeastern Conference, the league office announced Monday.
Tim Elko was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the first Rebel to earn the conference's top individual academic honor. Doug Nikhazy was named to the All-SEC First Team, giving Ole Miss a first-team honoree in three consecutive seasons. Justin Bench and Hayden Dunhurst were each named Second Team All-SEC, and Dunhurst added All-Defense and All-Newcomer honors. Finally, Jacob Gonzalez and TJ McCants were each named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Elko's is the sixth SEC individual honor in program history and the first since Drew Pomeranz was named SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2010. One of the most outstanding stories of the 2021 college baseball season, Elko suffered a torn ACL on April 5 against North Alabama—the day before he was named NCBWA National Hitter of the Month for March. Less than a month later, the senior out of Lutz, Florida, returned to the field, and just 33 days after the injury, he homered at Texas A&M. This past weekend, Elko returned to the starting lineup as a designated hitter and went yard again at Georgia.
In the classroom, Elko continued to shine, maintaining a 3.84 GPA as he earned his degree in exercise science. Twice voted captain by his teammates, Elko has been named to the SEC Academic Honor roll every year on campus and has made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll or better every semester in Oxford. Elko was also named last week to the SEC Community Service Team.
Nikhazy solidified himself as one of college baseball's top pitchers with a first-team honor. The junior out of Windermere, Florida, finished the season at 8-2 with a 2.12 ERA, including a 7-1 mark and 1.67 ERA in SEC play. Over 72.1 innings this season, the Rebel left-hander has struck out 107 batters and walked just 26. In conference play, Nikhazy has gone 59.1 innings with 85 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Nikhazy is the first Rebel since Chris Ellis in 2017 to win seven SEC games in a single season. He closed his regular season with a career-high 13 strikeouts at Georgia. The highlight of his 2021 campaign thus far came at Mississippi State, where he threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout in front of the largest on-campus crowd in college baseball this season.
Dunhurst earned his way onto the Preseason All-SEC Second Team at catcher and met expectations, landing on the Second Team at season's end. A semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, Dunhurst was also named to the All-Defense team and the All-Newcomer team, the latter an honor special to this season for those who were freshmen last year and did not get to compete in their first SEC season due to COVID-19.
The sophomore out of Carriere, Mississippi, has been one of Ole Miss' most dangerous offensive threats, hitting just under .300 for the regular season, including .313 in SEC play. On the year, he has 10 doubles, two triples and six home runs with 37 RBI and 37 runs scored. Defensively, he leads the league with a combined 19 runners caught stealing or picked off.
Bench has been an anchor in the Rebel lineup, as well as in the field. On the season, the junior out of Redington Beach, Florida, is hitting .327 with 50 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 34 RBI. He has also been hit by an SEC-leading 23 pitches, putting him in the top five nationally. He's also top 10 in the league in on-base percentage and runs scored.
Earning the second-team nod at third base, Bench began the season as the Rebels' starting center fielder and started 15 games at the helm of the Ole Miss outfield. Injuries then forced Bench to move onto the dirt, where he has started 36 games for the Rebels. Over his career, Bench has started at third base, second base, center field and right field.
Gonzalez has been arguably Ole Miss' top offensive threat this season and one of the SEC's most dangerous rookies. Claiming the starting shortstop role as a true freshman, he led Ole Miss with a .349 batting average and 58 runs scored. The freshman out of Glendora, California, has notched 10 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 48 RBI.
He finished second in the SEC in runs scored, third in hits, as well as top-10 in on-base percentage and batting average. In SEC play, Gonzalez ranked in the top 10 in runs scored, hits, walks, on-base percentage and RBI and was 15th in batting average at .325. He has led Ole Miss with 23 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games.
McCants joined Gonzalez on the All-Freshman team after an equally impressive rookie campaign. The Cantonment, Florida, native spent the fall and early spring as a middle infielder, but he took on the role of starting center fielder three weeks into the season. By season's end, he was one of the SEC's most productive players.
McCants led Ole Miss and tied for fifth in the conference with a .351 batting average in SEC play, including four doubles, a triple and five home runs. He was also top-10 in the SEC in runs scored (29), hits (39) and stolen bases (9-for-9), multi-hit games (12) in league games. McCants notched the second-longest hitting streak in SEC play this season at 14 games. His 28-game reached base streak was good for fourth in the conference.
In total, the Rebels were voted to All-SEC teams seven times for the 2021 season, tying the program record set in 2007—a squad led by two future MLB stars in Zack Cozart and Lance Lynn. Ole Miss has had four or more All-SEC honorees in each of the last three seasons. The Rebels have had an All-SEC selection in every season of the Mike Bianco era.
2021 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
Pitcher of the Year: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas
Newcomer of the Year: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Enrique Bradfield, Jr.
Coach of the Year: Dave Van Horn, Arkansas
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tim Elko, Ole Miss
First Team All-SEC
C: Sam Praytor, Alabama
1B: Will Frizzell, Texas A&M
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Jake Rucker, Tennessee
SS: Liam Spence, Tennessee
OF: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
DH/UT: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt
SP: Doug Nikhazy, Ole Miss*
SP: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt*
RP: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas
Second Team All-SEC Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Tre' Morgan, LSU
2B: Peyton Wilson, Alabama
3B: Justin Bench, Ole Miss
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn
OF: Dylan Crews, LSU
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Rowdey Jordan, Mississippi State
DH/UT: Wes Clarke, South Carolina
SP: Landon Marceaux, LSU
SP: Patrick Wicklander, Arkansas
RP: Landon Sims, Mississippi State
Freshman All-SEC Team
Tre' Morgan, LSU
Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
Dylan Crews, LSU
Cayden Wallace, Arkansas
Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss
TJ McCants, Ole Miss
Blade Tidwell, Tennessee
Will Sanders, South Carolina
Jordan Thompson, LSU
Jaden Woods, Georgia
Corey Collins, Georgia
Jack Bulger, Vanderbilt*
Sterlin Thompson, Florida*
Newcomer All-SEC Team
Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
Robert Moore, Arkansas
Landon Sims, Mississippi State
Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
Zane Denton, Alabama
Will Bednar, Mississippi State
Hunter Barco, Florida
Peyton Wilson, Alabama
Logan Tanner, Mississippi State
Carter Young, Vanderbilt
Nathan Hickey, Florida
Peyton Pallette, Arkansas
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Tre' Morgan, LSU
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Zane Denton, Alabama
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn*
SS: Liam Spence, Tennessee*
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
P: Tyler Ras, Alabama*
P: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas*
*Tie (Ties are not broken)
Tim Elko was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the first Rebel to earn the conference's top individual academic honor. Doug Nikhazy was named to the All-SEC First Team, giving Ole Miss a first-team honoree in three consecutive seasons. Justin Bench and Hayden Dunhurst were each named Second Team All-SEC, and Dunhurst added All-Defense and All-Newcomer honors. Finally, Jacob Gonzalez and TJ McCants were each named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Elko's is the sixth SEC individual honor in program history and the first since Drew Pomeranz was named SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2010. One of the most outstanding stories of the 2021 college baseball season, Elko suffered a torn ACL on April 5 against North Alabama—the day before he was named NCBWA National Hitter of the Month for March. Less than a month later, the senior out of Lutz, Florida, returned to the field, and just 33 days after the injury, he homered at Texas A&M. This past weekend, Elko returned to the starting lineup as a designated hitter and went yard again at Georgia.
In the classroom, Elko continued to shine, maintaining a 3.84 GPA as he earned his degree in exercise science. Twice voted captain by his teammates, Elko has been named to the SEC Academic Honor roll every year on campus and has made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll or better every semester in Oxford. Elko was also named last week to the SEC Community Service Team.
Nikhazy solidified himself as one of college baseball's top pitchers with a first-team honor. The junior out of Windermere, Florida, finished the season at 8-2 with a 2.12 ERA, including a 7-1 mark and 1.67 ERA in SEC play. Over 72.1 innings this season, the Rebel left-hander has struck out 107 batters and walked just 26. In conference play, Nikhazy has gone 59.1 innings with 85 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Nikhazy is the first Rebel since Chris Ellis in 2017 to win seven SEC games in a single season. He closed his regular season with a career-high 13 strikeouts at Georgia. The highlight of his 2021 campaign thus far came at Mississippi State, where he threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout in front of the largest on-campus crowd in college baseball this season.
Dunhurst earned his way onto the Preseason All-SEC Second Team at catcher and met expectations, landing on the Second Team at season's end. A semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, Dunhurst was also named to the All-Defense team and the All-Newcomer team, the latter an honor special to this season for those who were freshmen last year and did not get to compete in their first SEC season due to COVID-19.
The sophomore out of Carriere, Mississippi, has been one of Ole Miss' most dangerous offensive threats, hitting just under .300 for the regular season, including .313 in SEC play. On the year, he has 10 doubles, two triples and six home runs with 37 RBI and 37 runs scored. Defensively, he leads the league with a combined 19 runners caught stealing or picked off.
Bench has been an anchor in the Rebel lineup, as well as in the field. On the season, the junior out of Redington Beach, Florida, is hitting .327 with 50 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 34 RBI. He has also been hit by an SEC-leading 23 pitches, putting him in the top five nationally. He's also top 10 in the league in on-base percentage and runs scored.
Earning the second-team nod at third base, Bench began the season as the Rebels' starting center fielder and started 15 games at the helm of the Ole Miss outfield. Injuries then forced Bench to move onto the dirt, where he has started 36 games for the Rebels. Over his career, Bench has started at third base, second base, center field and right field.
Gonzalez has been arguably Ole Miss' top offensive threat this season and one of the SEC's most dangerous rookies. Claiming the starting shortstop role as a true freshman, he led Ole Miss with a .349 batting average and 58 runs scored. The freshman out of Glendora, California, has notched 10 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 48 RBI.
He finished second in the SEC in runs scored, third in hits, as well as top-10 in on-base percentage and batting average. In SEC play, Gonzalez ranked in the top 10 in runs scored, hits, walks, on-base percentage and RBI and was 15th in batting average at .325. He has led Ole Miss with 23 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games.
McCants joined Gonzalez on the All-Freshman team after an equally impressive rookie campaign. The Cantonment, Florida, native spent the fall and early spring as a middle infielder, but he took on the role of starting center fielder three weeks into the season. By season's end, he was one of the SEC's most productive players.
McCants led Ole Miss and tied for fifth in the conference with a .351 batting average in SEC play, including four doubles, a triple and five home runs. He was also top-10 in the SEC in runs scored (29), hits (39) and stolen bases (9-for-9), multi-hit games (12) in league games. McCants notched the second-longest hitting streak in SEC play this season at 14 games. His 28-game reached base streak was good for fourth in the conference.
In total, the Rebels were voted to All-SEC teams seven times for the 2021 season, tying the program record set in 2007—a squad led by two future MLB stars in Zack Cozart and Lance Lynn. Ole Miss has had four or more All-SEC honorees in each of the last three seasons. The Rebels have had an All-SEC selection in every season of the Mike Bianco era.
2021 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
Pitcher of the Year: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas
Newcomer of the Year: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Enrique Bradfield, Jr.
Coach of the Year: Dave Van Horn, Arkansas
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tim Elko, Ole Miss
First Team All-SEC
C: Sam Praytor, Alabama
1B: Will Frizzell, Texas A&M
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Jake Rucker, Tennessee
SS: Liam Spence, Tennessee
OF: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
DH/UT: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt
SP: Doug Nikhazy, Ole Miss*
SP: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt*
RP: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas
Second Team All-SEC Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Tre' Morgan, LSU
2B: Peyton Wilson, Alabama
3B: Justin Bench, Ole Miss
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn
OF: Dylan Crews, LSU
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Rowdey Jordan, Mississippi State
DH/UT: Wes Clarke, South Carolina
SP: Landon Marceaux, LSU
SP: Patrick Wicklander, Arkansas
RP: Landon Sims, Mississippi State
Freshman All-SEC Team
Tre' Morgan, LSU
Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
Dylan Crews, LSU
Cayden Wallace, Arkansas
Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss
TJ McCants, Ole Miss
Blade Tidwell, Tennessee
Will Sanders, South Carolina
Jordan Thompson, LSU
Jaden Woods, Georgia
Corey Collins, Georgia
Jack Bulger, Vanderbilt*
Sterlin Thompson, Florida*
Newcomer All-SEC Team
Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
Robert Moore, Arkansas
Landon Sims, Mississippi State
Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
Zane Denton, Alabama
Will Bednar, Mississippi State
Hunter Barco, Florida
Peyton Wilson, Alabama
Logan Tanner, Mississippi State
Carter Young, Vanderbilt
Nathan Hickey, Florida
Peyton Pallette, Arkansas
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Tre' Morgan, LSU
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Zane Denton, Alabama
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn*
SS: Liam Spence, Tennessee*
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
P: Tyler Ras, Alabama*
P: Kevin Kopps, Arkansas*
*Tie (Ties are not broken)
Players Mentioned
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