OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – TheCollege Baseball Foundation announced their 2026 Pitcher of the Year Watch List Wednesday afternoon, naming Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend as one of the best pitchers in the country.
Townsend is one of 141 Division I pitchers to be named to the Watch List and one of 17 from the SEC.
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.
Townsend will take the mound for his next start on Saturday against No. 2 Texas.