The College Baseball Foundation dropped its 2026 Pitcher of the Year Watch List on Wednesday, and Ole Miss right‑hander Cade Townsend made the cut.
Townsend is one of 141 Division I pitchers on the list and one of 17 from the SEC, which gives you a sense of how strong the league is this year and how well he’s throwing.
Through four starts, Townsend has a 0.48 ERA, the second‑lowest among qualified SEC pitchers. The only earned run he’s allowed came on a sac fly in his first outing against Nevada. Since then, he’s put together 17 straight scoreless innings.
Here for the punchouts🥊@cadetownsendmlb racking up the K's pic.twitter.com/erF4nP8FoI
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 7, 2026
He’s also been consistently missing bats. Townsend has punched out seven or more hitters in every start so far and set a new career high with nine in a combined shutout of Ohio State. Heading into the weekend, he sits at 15.43 K/9 (fourth in the SEC) and a 0.75 WHIP (eighth in the league).
all eyes on @cadetownsendmlb 👏
Townsend has been named to the @CollegeDiamonds National Pitcher of the Year Watch List! pic.twitter.com/pPf89kFtyK
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 11, 2026
Townsend’s next start comes Saturday against No. 2 Texas, giving him another chance to build on what’s already been a strong opening month.
2026 National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List
- Ben Alekson, RHP, Junior, Fairfield, MAAC
- Cooper Allen, RHP, Junior, UNCW, CAA
- Colby Allen, RHP, Senior, Southern Miss, Sun Belt
- Jeremiah Arnett, RHP, Junior, Rice, American
- Brady Bendik, RHP, Junior, Navy, Patriot
- Seth Benes, RHP, Junior, Lindenwood, OVC
- Reid Bertram, LHP, RS-Senior, Gardner Webb, Big South
- Brady Bickett, LHP, Junior, Charleston Southern, Big South
- Gavin Blachowicz, RHP, Sophomore, Nebraska, Big 10
- Ben Blair, RHP, Junior, Liberty, CUSA
- Ryder Brooks, LHP, RS-Junior, UC Irvine, Big West
- Ty Brooks, RHP, Sophomore, Indiana St, MVC
- Landen Burch, RHP, Senior, MTSU, CUSA
- Zach Busick, RHP, Junior, Little Rock, OVC
- Kyle Calzadiaz, RHP, Senior, San Jose St, MWC
- Cole Carlon, LHP, Junior, Arizona State, Big 12
- Ryan Castillo, RHP, Junior, New Mexico, MWC
- Ciaran Caughey, RHP, Senior, Kent St, MAC
- Tyler Charlton, LHP, RS-Junior, Missouri St, CUSA
- AJ Ciscar, RHP, Sophomore, Miami, ACC
- Collin Clarke, RHP, Junior, Oregon, Big 10
- A.J. Colarusso, LHP, Senior, Boston College, ACC
- Chansen Cole, RHP, Sophomore, West Virginia, Big 12
- Christian Coppola, RHP, Senior, St Joseph’s, A10
- Marty Coyne, LHP, Junior, Penn, Ivy
- Matthew Cuccias, RHP, Junior, Wichita St, American
- Ben Dean, RHP, Sophomore, Duke, ACC
- Jason DeCaro, RHP, Junior, North Carolina, ACC
- Evan Dempsey, LHP, Junior, FGCU, ASun
- Gavin DeVooght, RHP, Junior, Michigan, Big 10
- Liam Diehl, RHP, Junior, Towson, CAA
- Felix Digiacomo, RHP, Graduate, VCU, A10
- Kendall Dove, RHP, Junior, UTSA, American
- Jacob Dudan, RHP, Junior, NC State, ACC
- Luke Earnhardt, LHP, Junior, Winthrop, Big South
- Mason Edwards, LHP, Junior, USC, Big 10
- Tommy Egan, RHP, Senior, Troy, Sun Belt
- Ryan Featherston, RHP, Junior, Oregon, Big 10
- Colin Fisher, LHP, Junior, Arkansas, SEC
- Jackson Flora, RHP, Junior, UC Santa Barbara, Big West
- Cameron Flukey, RHP, Junior, Coastal Carolina, Sun Belt
- Jack Frankel, RHP, Sophomore, Tulane, American
- Gabe Gaeckle, RHP, Junior, Arkansas, SEC
- Braden Gebhardt, LHP, Senior, Youngstown St, Horizon
- Brayden Gilley, RHP, Junior, Winthrop, Big South
- Grant Govel, RHP, Sophomore, USC, Big 10
- Tyler Grenn, RHP, Senior, Navy, Patriot
- Ed Hall, RHP, Senior, Davidson, A10
- Trevor Hansen, RHP, Junior, UC Irvine, Big West
- Logan Hastings, RHP, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
- Hekili Robello, RHP, Junior, Hawaii, Big West
- Landon Hood, RHP, Freshman, Gonzaga, WCC
- Ty Horn, RHP, Junior, Nebraska, Big 10
- Drew Horn, RHP, RS-Senior, MTSU, CUSA
- Will Howell, RHP, RS-Sophomore, Memphis, American
- Jaxon Jelkin, RHP, Junior, Kentucky, SEC
- Sean Jenkins, RHP, Sophomore, East Carolina, American
- Andrew Johnson, RHP, Sophomore, USC, Big 10
- Cameron Johnson, LHP, Junior, Oklahoma, SEC
- Noah Kenney, RHP, Junior, Washington, Big 10
- Aidan King, RHP, Sophomore, Florida, SEC
- Kole Klecker, RHP, Senior, Arizona State, Big 12
- Aidan Knaak, RHP, Junior, Clemson, ACC
- Reese Kortum, LHP, Junior, Wichita St, American
- Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Sophomore, Tennessee, SEC
- Will Labonte, RHP, Freshman, Portland, WCC
- Tommy LaPour, RHP, Junior, TCU, Big 12
- Ethan Lay, RHP, Senior, Sacramento St, WAC
- Justin LeGuernic, LHP, Junior, Clemson, ACC
- Rohan Lettow, RHP, Junior, SDSU, MWC
- Chris Levonas, RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
- Carson Liggett, RHP, RS-Senior, Kansas St, Big 12
- Dylan Loy, LHP, Junior, Georgia Tech, ACC
- Landon Mack, RHP, Sophomore, Tennessee, SEC
- Micheal Malki, RHP, Sophomore, Cal Baptist, WAC
- Jake Marciano, LHP, Sophomore, Auburn, SEC
- Ryan Marohn, LHP, Junior, NC State, ACC
- Duncan Marsten, RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
- Kurt Marton, RHP, Junior, Sacramento St, WAC
- Wes Mendes, LHP, Junior, Florida State, ACC
- LJ Mercurius, RHP, Junior, Oklahoma, SEC
- Maddox Meyer, RHP, Sophomore, Omaha, Summitt
- Ryland Morin, LHP, Junior, UAPB, SWAC
- Wylan Moss, RHP, Sophomore, UCLA, Big 10
- Eric Nachtsheim, RHP, Senior, McNeese, Southland
- Griffin Naess, RHP, Junior, Cal Poly, Big West
- Jackson Nash, RHP, Junior, Longwood, Big South
- Mathis Nayral, RHP, Junior, Kansas, Big 12
- Mikiah Negrete, LHP, Senior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
- Josh Newell, RHP, Senior, Lindenwood, OVC
- Jake Nobles, RHP, Freshman, St. Mary’s, WCC
- Jack Ohman, RHP, Sophomore, Yale, Ivy
- Chris Olivier, RHP, Senior, Lamar, Southland
- Alex Overbay, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Big 12
- Brigden Parker, LHP, RS-Senior, Little Rock, OVC
- Bryan Peck, RHP, Graduate, Cal Baptist, WAC
- Gage Peterson, RHP, Junior, Appalachian St, Sun Belt
- Garret Plata, LHP, RS-Junior, Pacific, WCC
- Jalen Porter, RHP, Graduate, UAPB, SWAC
- Daniel Powell, RHP, Junior, Kennesaw St, CUSA
- Sawyer Pruitt, RHP, Senior, Louisiana, Sun Belt
- Walter Quinn, RHP, Senior, TCU, Big 12
- Daniel Quintana, RHP, RS-Junior, Radford, Big South
- Jack Radel, RHP, Junior, Notre Dame, ACC
- Cord Rager, LHP, Freshman, Oklahoma, SEC
- Kaysen Raineri, RHP, Sophomore, Texas Tech, Big 12
- Kyle Remington, RHP, Junior, Illinois, Big 10
- Bryce Riggs, RHP, Junior, Eastern Illinois, OVC
- Ruger Riojas, RHP, Senior, Texas, SEC
- Richie Roman, RHP, Junior, Houston, Big 12
- Aidan Russell, RHP, Senior, SDSU, MWC
- Edwin Sanchez, LHP, Senior, Bethune Cookman, SWAC
- Will Sanford, RHP, Sophomore, Oregon, Big 10
- Paul Schmitz, RHP, Senior, Houston, Big 12
- Nic Schutte, RHP, Senior, Murray St, MVC
- Matt Scott, RHP, Senior, Georgia, SEC
- Spencer Seid, LHP, Graduate, Georgetown, Big East
- Michael Senay, RHP, Freshman, USF, American
- Michael Sharman, LHP, Senior, Clemson, ACC
- Kade Shatwell, RHP, Senior, Austin Peay, ASun
- Sam Simmons, RHP, Senior, UTSA, American
- Aiden Sims, RHP, Sophomore, Texas A&M, SEC
- Braden Smith, RHP, Junior, UCF, Big 12
- William Soignier, RHP, Junior, Bradley, MVC
- Alex Solis, RHP, Junior, Houston, Big 12
- Patrick Steitz, RHP, RS-Senior, VCU, A10
- Cayden Suchy, LHP, Sophomore, UConn, Big East
- Camden Sunstrom, RHP, Sophomore, Southern Miss, Sun Belt
- Joseph Taylor, RHP, Junior, Charlotte, American
- Zach Todd, RHP, RS-Junior, Pacific, WCC
- Cade Townsend, RHP, Sophomore, Mississippi, SEC
- Adam Troy, RHP, RS-Junior, USC, Big 10
- Easton Tumis, RHP, RS-Sophomore, Kent St, MAC
- Tomas Valincius, LHP, Sophomore, Miss St, SEC
- Dylan Volantis, LHP, Sophomore, Texas, SEC
- Joey Volchko, RHP, Junior, Georgia, SEC
- Parker Warner, RHP, Sophomore, Stanford, ACC
- Brannon Westmoreland, RHP, Junior, Little Rock, OVC
- Dax Whitney, RHP, Sophomore, Oregon St, Independent
- Lance Williams, RHP, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
- Bradley Zayac, RHP, Sophomore, Liberty, CUSA
