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Ryan McPherson and Kevin Milewski close to return for NCAA Regional

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

Mississippi State baseball fans are hoping for the return of two key players for the upcoming Starkville Regional this weekend. Pitcher Ryan McPherson and catcher Kevin Milewski both missed out on the chance to play in the SEC Tournament last week, but

Mississippi State head coach Brian O’Connor gave positive updates on the pair in a local media session on Monday.

For Milewski, concussion protocol after the Texas A&M series kept him from taking the field again behind home plate. He missed games against Mizzou and Georgia in Hoover, but returned in a team scrimmage last weekend.

“I think Kevin Milewski is cleared, full-go,” O’Connor said. “He was not able to play the last conference tournament game through concussion protocol. He met those protocols on Saturday morning, was tested and cleared by our doctors again, and was cleared and did catch eight innings in our scrimmage on Saturday.”

McPherson had made his return to action against Auburn three weeks ago, his first outing since leaving a game against Vanderbilt in March. Friday starter suffered a mild forearm strain against the Commodores and was out for seven weeks of SEC action.

He was likely available for action if the Bulldogs had advanced past Georgia, but hadn’t yet worked up the same kind of pitch count that he was throwing before his injury. He and Tomas Valincius had both shown the ability to throw up to seven strong innings. Having a pair of aces who can go far into a contest is a golden ticket for any team with postseason ambitions, and his return to that level would be a huge boost for the Bulldogs.

“Ryan McPherson will be a big part of (the Regional plans),” O’Connor said on Monday. “He threw on Saturday night, we scrimmaged late at night in the stadium, and he threw five shutout innings… ran his pitch count up just shy of 80 pitches, and felt great. It felt great the next day. So he’s on target for us this weekend.”

The Bulldogs will open NCAA Tournament play against Lipscomb at 1 p.m. on Friday.

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