Of all the red flags and warning signs that popped up over the weekend in Austin, the biggest was a potential injury.
Right-handed pitcher Cade Townsend was having a phenomenal season, picking up a national pitcher of the week award and posting a 0.92 ERA in five starts with 32 strikeouts and seven walks.
He might’ve had a showcase game last Saturday against No. 2 Texas, but Townsend lasted just one inning and faced one batter in the second inning before leaving with an injury.
That blew up whatever bullpen plans Ole Miss had for that game, as well as Sunday’s series finale. The Rebels lost both of those games.
On Tuesday, we finally got an official update on Townsend’s injury and Ole Miss fans should breathe a sigh of relief.
“We tried to say it’s day-to-day, and we don’t really want to get ahead of ourselves,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said after Tuesday’s 9-5 win against Austin Peay. “I know you’ve got to ask the questions, but we don’t know the answers. All we can answer is he threw today, felt no pain and felt good. We’ll continue to progress from there.”
It’s not the all good answer fans would’ve wanted, but it’s a lot better than what a serious elbow or shoulder injury would mean. Whether or not we see Townsend on the mound for the next SEC series against No. 15 Kentucky remains to be seen.
“That was great news. I think we were all nervous,” Bianco said. “To get a clean MRI did wonders, not just for him, but for us. You could see him bouncing around the locker room today. He’s excited to get back out there. When that’s going to be, I’m not sure.
“We’ll leave it up to Joel Mangrum and Josh Porter each day as we lead up to it. To this point we don’t know what his availability will be, but he felt really good today.”
The Rebels won their midweek game, but have a quick turnaround for its next SEC series that starts Thursday at home against Kentucky. Throughout the season, Ole Miss has announced its starting pitcher rotation for a weekend series the day before the first game.
That would be Wednesday for this week. So may soon know more about Townsend’s availability.
