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Ryan McPherson to return as Game 3 Starter vs. Auburn

Mississippi State beat writer Colin Dammsby: Colin Damms05/09/26Colintheshots95

Mississippi State ace pitcher Ryan McPherson will return to action this Saturday. The sophomore will start against No. 6 Auburn in Game Three of the final home SEC series, head coach Brian O’Connor told media on Friday.

McPherson was sidelined with a mild forearm strain in his right arm 7 weeks ago in a start against Vanderbilt. The diagnosis came with an expected recovery timetable of around 4-6 weeks. O’Connor gave regular positive updates on McPherson in that time, and told media after Game Two that he had been working his way back in recent weeks.

“He will be on a pitch count/inning limit tomorrow,” O’Connor said. “Everything over the last two or three weeks on his buildup has went extremely well. On Tuesday before the team arrived, he throw a pitcher vs. batter simulated scrimmage sort of thing and everything was great. And the next day he was fine.”

McPherson has been missed in the rotation for the Bulldogs. He was 3-0 through six starts before the injury with 2.45 earned run average. He went at least six innings in four of his starts, with his only four-inning outings being the first start of the season and the game he went down against Vandy.

“Now’s the time,” O’Connor continued. “It’s been seven weeks and he wants the ball, but it’ll be on a limited basis. That’s the right thing to do is to allow him to have his normal start-up routine and start the game for us. That will be the plan and whenever we take him out, we’ll just chop the rest of the game up and do whatever it takes to win tomorrow.”

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