AJ Russell made his sixth pitching appearance for Tennessee on May 26 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. He has experienced arm soreness during the 2024 season.
After defeating Northern Kentucky on Friday, seventh-year Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed Russell’s availability for the NCAA Tournament Knoxville Regional.
“No, he’s not active and probably will get looked at again,” Vitello said. “We haven’t fast-forwarded there, but just off playing catch, there’s no need to battle the soreness factor, step one, and step two would be to make sure he’s good to go and should be throwing at all.
“What he did for us on Sunday was great. I think it was obvious, though, with his couple outings he did give us, that he hadn’t really been what his best version of himself is since Texas Tech. If anything, I think it alleviates the cloud, for these guys, too. Not just him, but also us, what is, what isn’t. At least we are on one side of the fence than the other. Everyone knows we’d rather be fully on the other, but at least there’s some clarity there, so he won’t be active. He’s going to get looked at, and we’ll figure that out.”
