Ole Miss Rebels' Cade Townsend (10) pitches as Ole Miss Rebels take on LSU Tigers during the SEC baseball tournament at Hoover Met in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Jake Crandall/ Montgomery Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ole Miss Baseball Receives Massive Update on Cade Townsend Amid Recent Injury Scare

Originally posted on Ole Miss Rebels on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Mar 17, 2026 1:17 PM ET

Ole Miss Baseball received as good of news as possible on Tuesday morning after head coach Mike Bianco provided a status update on right-handed pitcher Cade Townsend.

In what appeared to be a brutal situation on Saturday in Austin (Tex.) against the Longhorns, Townsend departed his Game 2 start early due to injury.

Once Ole Miss got back to Oxford late on Monday due to flight delays following Sunday's Game 3 against Texas, Townsend underwent further testing on "shoulder soreness" that forced him out on Saturday.

The additional scans came back negative and “clean,” per a statement from Bianco on Tuesday morning.

“Cade got an MRI (on Monday) and met with Dr. Luber our team orthopedic. The MRI came back clean and showed mild inflammation in his shoulder. Cade will begin rehab and throwing today and will progress day-by-day,” Bianco’s full statement read.

It's as good of news as Ole Miss could have received on their dominant right-hander as he navigates a strong 2026 season in Oxford.

Townsend has pieced together one of the best earned run averages in the Southeastern Conference this season at 0.92 - despite the early exit on Saturday.

In 19.2 innings on the bump in 2026, Townsend has given up only 12 hits with three runs — with two earned.

Both of the earned runs came in Saturday’s first inning prior to Townsend’s departure with shoulder soreness.

Prior to Saturday's Start:

Townsend currently sports a 0.48 ERA after four starts, the second-lowest ERA among all qualified SEC pitchers. He has allowed just one earned run all season, coming on a sacrifice fly in his first start against Nevada.

Since that second inning on February 14 against the Wolfpack, Townsend has thrown 17-straight scoreless innings.

The California native has struck out seven or more batters in each of his four starts and set a new career high of nine in a combined shutout against Ohio State. He has the fourth-highest K/9 (15.43) and the eighth-lowest WHIP (0.75) in the SEC heading into this weekend.

This article first appeared on Ole Miss Rebels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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