Former Ole Miss baseball stars Tim Elko and Jacob Gonzalez reunite in Birmingham

Former Ole Miss baseball players Tim Elko and Jacob Gonzalez are chasing their big league dreams. Elko was a 10th round pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2022. He’s spent the past few years grinding in the minors and has worked his way up to the Birmingham Barons, the team’s Double-A affiliate.

In July of 2023, his college teammate Jacob Gonzalez was picked by the White Sox in the first round.

“He lived with me during spring training for a little bit. That’s when we got to reconnect,” Gonzalez said. “We got sent off to different places. I told him that I hope he moves up but that I hope I do too so we can play together.”

It didn’t take long for the two to be reunited. Gonzalez was called up to Birmingham May 21.

“I was just super happy. We were teammates for three years at Ole Miss and he’s one of my really really good friends,” Elko said. “Anytime you can reunite with one of your good friends it’s awesome but to play on the same baseball team is even cooler.”

“We’ve been good friends since I showed up to Ole Miss. We kept in touch after he left and obviously we were picked by the same team so we’ve been friends this whole time,” Gonzalez said.

Their bond grew stronger after leading Ole Miss baseball to a national championship in 2022.

“When you do something cool like that, it brings you closer to who you do it with. That helped and gives us a lot more memories to look back on that we’ll never forget,” Elko said.

Elko was just named the Southern League’s Double-A Player of the month. Gonzalez is hitting .313 with the Barons. They’re legends at Ole Miss and now are on track to build a legacy in the big leagues.

“Both are outstanding baseball players and both are outstanding kids. Great representatives of the university,” Ole Miss head baseball coach Mike Bianco said. “A lot of people watch what they’ve done on the field but they’re just as good, if not better, off the field.”

The two hope the Barons isn’t the last team they’ll play for together.

“I mean, it’s really cool to play with someone you played in college with. Hopefully one day we’re playing in the big leagues together for a long time and that’ll still be cool,” Gonzalez said.