The old sports cliché “defense wins championships” has a lot of validity to it and, in baseball, defense begins with the pitcher.
After all, it’s hard to score runs if you can’t hit the ball or get on base. It’s part of what makes ace pitchers so important because teams can notch it as a win before the game is played.
Ole Miss has that type of ace pitcher with Hunter Elliott who was included in every preseason All-America team ahead of the start of the 2026 season.
But ace pitchers are (under normal circumstances) only appear in one game a week. There’s three other games teams play in a week, meaning three other starting pitchers have to take the mound.
In a way, the starting pitchers behind Elliott in the starting rotation will be even more important if Ole Miss wants to go to Omaha in June. And it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Cade Townsend transforms into an ace pitcher in his own right.
Townsend was announced as the starting pitcher for the second game of the opening weekend series against Nevada. He’ll take to the mound at 1:30 p.m. at Swayze Field. It’s a new role for the sophomore out of Aliso Viejo, California but it won’t change his mentality.
“Honestly, nothing really changes. My mindset is the same as last year,” Townsend said. “Whether I’m relieving, closing, or starting, my goal is always the same — go out, compete, and be the best version of myself.”
In 2025, Townsend made 15 total appearances and eight starts. He started off as a reliever and moved into a starting role later in the season. He pitched 34 innings and racked up 43 strikeouts and allowed only 24 runs.
The Rebels won the last five games of the season Townsend started, including a 2-0 win against LSU in the SEC Tournament. In that game against the future World Series champions, he allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out three batters.
“That LSU start showed what we already believed, that he belongs and can beat anyone,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said on Tuesday. “He worked hard this offseason on velocity and developing a harder breaking ball. He’s been more consistent and looks as good as he has in a long time.”
In addition to his appearance in the SEC Tournament, Townsend got the start for Ole Miss in its NCAA Regional game against Georgia Tech. That outing didn’t go as well for Townsend, giving up three runs on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts in one inning of work.
Those postseason outings were good for Townsend’s confidence headed into the offseason.
“They were big in terms of confidence,” he said. “Just knowing I can do this at this level. But my work didn’t change. I’ve always worked hard and tried to be myself. It was just another boost to keep building on.”
Townsend kept building his game during the offseason all the way to the start of spring practices last month. He added two new pitches to his repertoire, a sweeper and two-seam fastball.
“I added two pitches — actually more in the spring than the fall, about a month or two ago,” Townsend said. “I think everybody on this staff has a deep repertoire now, and that’s going to make us really good.”
For those curious, learning a new pitch is usually a longer process than a month or two. But not for Townsend.
“I’m lucky enough where I pick up a ball and kind of grab it and throw it, and it’s good,” Townsend said.
“There’s not really a process. I’m pretty lucky and blessed to have the innate ability to feel a ball. But, yeah, there’s usually a huge process. I got lucky and just kind of skipped out on it.”
In a season where Ole Miss knows it can trust its ace every Friday, the real difference‑makers may be the arms that follow. Townsend doesn’t need to be Elliott to matter. He just needs to keep being the version of himself that showed up down the stretch last year.
If he does, the Rebels won’t just have an ace. They’ll have a rotation built to last into June.
