Sophomore pitcher AJ Russell (0-1) made his fourth start of the season for Tennessee (50-11) on May 26 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Russell pitched one inning in the Vols’ win against LSU in the SEC Tournament championship game. He totaled 13 pitches, including 10 strikes, against four batters.
Before making two appearances in the SEC Tournament, the 6-foot-6, 207-pound sophomore appeared in four games during the regular-season due to soreness.
Ahead of the Knoxville Regional, seventh-year Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello met with media and discussed Russell’s availability.
“He’s been eager to compete, which obviously he’s done sparingly,” Vitello said. “We’ve tried to kind of meet him in the middle, what’s the best thing to do, but he’s been sore. To this point, we’ve probably pressed it as good as we can.
“If it was a normal weekend, he wouldn’t have pitched, but as we make it to the fifth game of the week and he had some time to bounce back. He wanted the ball and was not going to go more than an inning, so I think if he is available and he does throw, same thing.”
