Tygart set to return for Texas A&M series, Josenberger out indefinitely
In a season that has featured what feels like only bad news on the injury front, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn revealed a positive — and another negative — update following Tuesday's 8-4 loss at Missouri State.
Van Horn told reporters that sophomore right-hander Brady Tygart will make his return for this weekend's series against the Texas A&M Aggies after he suffered a UCL strain on March 1 that forced him to exit the 10-9 win over Illinois State and has held him out since.
What was originally said to be a five-to-six week recovery period ended up being just over eight weeks for the righty out of Hernando, Mississippi. Van Horn said after last Thursday's loss at Georgia that Tygart could've thrown against the Bulldogs, but the team elected to not add him on the 27-man roster to give him another week to recover.
"Tygart, I mean he’s probably about there," Van Horn said. "But we just feel like that we need to go one more week. So we went ahead and had him throw a bullpen yesterday and he threw really well.
"It’s not like he’s thrown a lot of pitches, but just feel like one more [week] and we’ll be a little bit safer, and then next weekend we should get him out there. And that was the target date all along. So we thought, ‘Let’s just stick with it.’"
Tygart emerged as Arkansas' closer during his Freshman All-SEC campaign in 2022. He made 24 relief appearances on the mound, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.82 ERA in 37 2/3 innings. He earned a team-best eight saves, including six multi-inning saves, and he struck out 51 on his way to Perfect Game Freshman All-American honors.
Across just four appearances early in the season, Tygart gave up four earned runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out 10 batters, walked one and earned a save prior to the injury.
"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," freshman right-hander Ben Bybee said Tuesday. "And I think it’s huge for the staff, just that extra arm in the bullpen or wherever he might come in is huge."
The positive news of Tygart's return was seemingly canceled out by the bad news that center fielder Tavian Josenberger will not play this weekend after he suffered a hamstring injury during Saturday's 9-8 loss at Georgia.
"He’s got a Grade 1, which is about as good of news as we could have hoped for," Van Horn said. "He’s had an ultrasound and we had an MRI just to double-check it. Now it’s just a matter of healing up. I don’t know a timeline on that. Don’t want to hurt it again.
"If he hurts it again, his season’s probably over. So we’re going to have to just really let him talk to us and we told him to be really honest and we’ll figure it out. We’ll slow-play it if we have to."
Josenberger has a .322 batting average on the season with seven home runs, nine doubles, 27 RBIs and a .433 on-base percentage. He's been a mainstay as Arkansas' leadoff hitter and he's been a great defender in center.
Having Josenberger go down added to the already stinging loss of left fielder Jared Wegner, who is out with a broken thumb. The losses have caused a shakeup in the outfield, as the usual designated hitter Kendall Diggs has moved to right field, right fielder Jace Bohrofen moved to center and first baseman Brady Slavens played in left field during Tuesday's loss at Missouri State.
Slavens told reporters that the coaches went to him on Monday and told him he would be playing in left field Tuesday — and he really had no choice but to do it.
"It was fine," Slavens said. "I’ve played a lot out there. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten some reps out there, but just got to get back to work."
The senior played 13 games in right field during Arkansas' 2022 season, but spent most of the year as the designated hitter. Slavens played first base for Razorbacks in 2021 and has returned to that role this year, but the injuries have changed that.
Players going down have obviously hurt the Diamond Hogs, who are in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Van Horn said his team has fared well, but it's hard when the injuries continue to pile up.
"It's hard when you don't have your leadoff man or your three-hole hitter," Van Horn said. "We've done pretty well without our three-hole hitter for a while, but then you lose your leadoff guy who is an energy guy and a defender. It puts a kink into it. We've got to have a couple guys step it up, not just one. Our lineup needs to stay, at least one through seven, pretty tough.
"If eight and nine are more of defenders, a lot of teams are that way, but we've got to have more. When you lose a guy, not only do you lose his bat, you lose his defense. So whoever you put out there is not going to be as good. It's just the way it is, so you weaken your team all the way around. You hope that they can make plays during the game that are supposed to be made."
Arkansas' next test will start Thursday evening against the Texas A&M Aggies. First pitch for Game 1 is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on ESPNU. Friday's game has a first pitch set for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network Plus and Saturday's series finale will start at 11 a.m. CT on the SEC Network.