FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas right-hander Brady Tygart will start the Razorbacks' game against Texas A&M on Friday.
Tygart will make his long-awaited return from a sprained ulnar collateral ligament that he suffered during a March 1 game against Illinois State. It will be the first career start for Tygart, who was a Freshman All-American as a closer last season.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
“You’ll probably see him pitch a little bit this weekend, but it won’t be a lot of pitches,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said Thursday pregame on the Razorback Sports Network. “It might not be in a stressful situation; we’re still trying to figure out how we want to handle that. We’re slowly bringing him along.”
By starting, Tygart can be in control all of the timing aspects that surround his outing, from when he warms up to when he throws his first live pitch — variables that cannot be controlled out of the bullpen.
"We might just put him out there at the beginning of the game, even if it’s one inning," Van Horn said Tuesday.
Tygart was Arkansas' primary closer for most of the 2022 season when he recorded 8 saves, had a 3-4 record and a 3.82 ERA in 24 relief appearances. He recorded 51 strikeouts, 21 walks and had a .212 batting average against in 37 2/3 innings.
Arkansas' coaching staff considered using him in a starting role this year, but left him in the bullpen to begin the season.
The Hernando, Miss., native was off to a great start. Prior to the game when he was injured and appeared to pitch through discomfort, he allowed 1 run and struck out 8 in 4 2/3 innings.
"His [first] outing in Texas was the best I've ever seen him when you just talk about all of his pitches," Van Horn said Feb. 21, four days after Tygart did not allow a base runner and struck out three Texas Longhorns in 1 2/3 innings at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
Tygart's injury and return timeline were similar to that of Ole Miss left-hander Hunter Elliott, who was injured Feb. 17. Elliott returned last week and labored through a 49-pitch inning against LSU that included 5 runs on 2 hits and 5 walks.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said Elliott will not pitch for the Rebels this week against Georgia.
“Hunter still felt discomfort after his start on Saturday to the point where we feel it is in his best interest for him to revisit with a physician early next week," Bianco said, according to RebelGrove.com.
No two injuries are the same, but Elliott's case offers a fresh reminder that pitchers coming back from injury need time to get back to full strength.
Tygart's return has the potential to be a boost for a banged-up bullpen that has lost two front-line pitchers — right-handers Jaxon Wiggins and Koty Frank — to season-ending injuries, and might have suffered another setback Thursday when right-hander Dylan Carter reported soreness for a second consecutive outing. Wiggins was expected to be a weekend starter, Frank was the most-used reliever at the time of his injury, and Carter's 37 innings are the most by a Razorback pitcher who has not started a game.
"Brady’s obviously a dude, and I know he’s super excited and working really hard to get back to where he is right now," Arkansas freshman right-hander Ben Bybee said Tuesday. "I think it’s huge for the staff, just that extra arm in the bullpen or wherever he might come in."