AUSTIN, Texas — The makeup of the Ole Miss weekend rotation potentially took a major hit on Saturday with Cade Townsend making an early exit.
The Ole Miss Saturday starter departed in the second inning after experiencing “shoulder soreness,” according to head coach Mike Bianco.
After being one of the top arms in the country through his first four starts, Townsend looked shaky in game two of the series between Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas. He had to throw 29 pitches to get out of the first inning that also included three walks and giving up two runs.
In the second inning he looked uncomfortable after a pitch that sailed over the head of catcher Austin Fawley. Bianco was joined by Ole Miss pitching coach Joel Mangrum and athletic trainer Josh Porter to talk with Townsend. After one test pitch the decision was made to pull him out of precaution.
“We’ll have to wait until we get back home and doctors look at it,” Bianco said during his in-game interview on SEC Network+. “Shoulder soreness and didn’t feel right. It’s not something you mess with. We didn’t feel like he could go and had discomfort so took him out of the game.”
Entering Saturday Townsend had a earned run average of 0.48, good enough for 10th best in the country. Another red flag Townsend was having an off day was his velocity was down a good five miles and hour on Saturday after starting out in the upper 90s.
The right-hander is a draft-eligible sophomore, turning 21 in May, and has been a projected Top-10 to first round pick in recent mock drafts. With Ole Miss having a short week due to the Kentucky series in Oxford starting on Thursday it would feel safe to assume Townsend will not be on the mound come Friday, as things stand now.
Ole Miss is trying to win the series after taking the opening game on Friday in a marathon extra-innings victory.