The NCAA Tournament Knoxville Regional started Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
No. 1 Tennessee (54-7) defeated Alabama State, 10-0.
Taylor recorded one RBI in the contest.
Following the Vols’ win, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed the team’s catcher situation.
“We will give it some time to figure out what’s going on because I have to get with Dr. (Chris) Klenck, but obviously Evan Russell was not here,” Vitello said. “He was sick this morning. I got a message from him. I’m going to always defer to those folks. It opened up an opportunity for Charlie, and also our guys to kind of rally around one another because clearly that’s a big piece there.
“The one thing I’ll say about it, if you come to practice, I mean I’m looking at these names, I think Charlie has everyone on our roster beat as far as how he shows up and plays ball. It’s just kind of the same deal, it’s why he’s a fan favorite in the locker room. I don’t think it affects him much, but what our fans do, just in certain situations, and in particular being behind our guy that’s a freshman on the field, does things to my soul that I wish I could explain to you all, but I can’t.”
Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White issued a statement regarding Russell on Saturday.
“Thrilled to update that Evan Russell is feeling better and back with the team,” White announced. “Sad that over the last 24 hours this young man has had to endure speculation and criticism. In the future I hope that the media will prioritize the health of our student-athletes over unfounded rumors.”
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