Arkansas without Brady Tygart for Fayetteville Regional
Arkansas junior right-handed pitcher Brady Tygart will not be on the roster for the Fayetteville Regional.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas junior pitcher Brady Tygart is battling through a shoulder injury and will not be on the 27-man roster for the Fayetteville Regional this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium, head coach Dave Van Horn announced Thursday.
Tygart has started 13 games and appeared in 14 for the Razorbacks this year. He's earned a 4-3 record to go with a 3.94 ERA in 59.1 innings pitched, and he's allowed 26 earned runs on 46 hits with 36 walks and 69 strikeouts.
Most recently, Tygart pitched a scoreless frame in relief one week ago against Kentucky at the SEC Tournament before he had an error, gave up a two-run homer, issued a walk, a wild pitch and hit a batter in the next inning.
"Tygart, one really good inning, struggles, probably won’t be on the 27 because he doesn’t feel very good," Van Horn said. "So we’ll leave it at that. And even if he was, it would be one inning. We’ve got guys that can throw one inning and do a great job. I just want healthy people out there."
Van Horn went on to confirm that Tygart will definitely not be on the 27-man roster this weekend with Louisiana Tech, Kansas State and Southeast Missouri State in town. The Razorbacks are set to begin play against SEMO at 2 p.m. CT Friday.
"It's more like a shoulder," Van Horn said. "I don't know. They're going to have to do some testing. I don't know the exact word. It's not a ligament. Shoulder is not a problem. It's just something that needs a little time."
Van Horn wouldn't commit to Tygart being available if the Hogs were to advance to a super regional.
"I don't know. I want guys when they get on the mound, they feel good about how they feel and they go pitch, and not have something going on," Van Horn said. "The mental part of this game won't let you perform if you're thinking like that and you've got something going, which he does."
After a strong start to the season, the Hernando, Mississippi, native struggled to end the regular season with back-to-back rough outings against Kentucky and Mississippi State. Over a combined 4.2 innings pitched against those two teams, Tygart gave up nine earned runs on nine hits with eight walks and four strikeouts.
Tygart couldn't make it out of the second inning in Arkansas' 8-5 loss to Mississippi State on May 11. He tied his season-high with five walks and also matched his season-low with two strikeouts.
As a sophomore in 2023, Tygart missed over eight weeks with a sprained UCL before he returned in late April in the starting pitcher role. He had a 3.20 ERA across 25.1 innings last season with 31 strikeouts and eight walks. The year before, he picked up eight saves and earned a 3.82 ERA as a Perfect Game First Team Freshman All-American.
The Razorbacks will now have to turn to a different arm in a starting role, which has featured Hagen Smith, Tygart and Mason Molina for the majority of the season.
Names in the mix include sophomore right-hander Gage Wood (3-1, 3.86 ERA), veteran righty Will McEntire (5-0, 4.26 ERA) and sophomore Ben Bybee (2-1, 6.15 ERA).
This could also be a spot for freshman left-hander Colin Fisher (6-1, 1.96 ERA) to step up, but Fisher had season-ending surgery May 6. Van Horn also revealed Thursday that sophomore right-hander Cooper Dossett is being shut down for the year after suffering an arm injury May 18 at Texas A&M, but surgery won't be required for Dossett.
The Razorbacks will open Fayetteville Regional play Friday at 2 p.m. CT against 4-seed SEMO at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
