What Ryan McPherson revealed about injury recovery before Mississippi State vs Georgia

ATHENS, GA — Ryan McPherson had a sense something was wrong his arm even an inning before the Mississippi State baseball pitcher exited his start against Vanderbilt.

He had pain in his elbow but got through the third inning at Dudy Noble Field on March 20. He pitched a fourth inning but then threw only one warmup pitch in the fifth inning before getting pulled.

It wound up being a forearm strain for the Bulldogs ' Game 1 weekend starter, one that sidelined him for six weeks. The Bulldogs got by without him, hosting an NCAA Tournament regional in Starkville for the first time since the 2021 national championship, but his absence was felt through most of the SEC schedule.

"It sucked," McPherson said. "I took two weeks with no throwing, then slowly back into it. It sucked having to watch your teammates compete and when you're out there not contributing. You feel like kind of helpless and just upset that you can't play."

But McPherson is back now, starting three times in a gradual buildup in May. He presumably will be one of No. 14 Mississippi State's starting pitchers in the Athens Super Regional against No. 3 Georgia (49-12) and could be MSU's advantage.

Tomas Valincius will start Game 1 for MSU (43-17) on June 6 (10 a.m. CT, ESPN). Coach Brian O'Connor didn't reveal the other starting pitchers for the best-of-three series.

"I feel great and I feel healthy," McPherson said. "I feel most confident in our team right now. Everything is possible because the team was able to get us in this spot. I'm excited to be a contributor in the super regional and hopefully Omaha."

McPherson made his return May 9 against Auburn, throwing 1⅓ innings with two runs, one unearned, allowed on 34 pitches. Then on May 16 vs Texas A&M, McPherson pitched 2⅓ innings, surrendering one run on 44 pitches.