Tennessee sophomore right-handed pitcher AJ Russell exited game two of the Ole Miss series on Saturday night in Knoxville.
Russell began to experience discomfort in his throwing arm as he lost command in the top of the ninth inning, allowing three walks (one intentional) and a game-tying RBI double in the final frame.
Trainer Jeff “Woody” Wood came out to evaluate Russell, and after a couple minutes of discussion, head coach Tony Vitello made the decision to bring junior RHP Aaron Combs out of the bullpen.
“Had some tightness in his forearm,” Vitello said about why Russell exited the game. “We were kind of at the end of the deal with how we wanted to use him, but either a credit to them or maybe being off a little bit command wise and pitch count climbing pretty quick in the amount of time that he was out there, I mean, he did record three innings worth of outs for us. He did a good job. He kept us in the game but unfortunately, I think gave up one of several 0-2 hits that were painful. He felt that soreness in there. I think he was wanting to warmup or kind of see how it felt, but we aren’t going to mess with that at any point in that situation.”
Saturday marks the second time this season Russell has exited the game with an injury. The Franklin, Tennessee, native left the series opener against UAlbany with soreness after three innings and did not return until the series finale of the Alabama series.
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Russell began the season as the Friday night starter for Tennessee before sustaining the first injury in his second outing. While Tennessee needs Russell to be a weekend starter, expect Vitello and the rest of the coaching staff to be cautious, as the Vols have aspirations of competing in June – a time they would need Russell healthy to make a postseason run.
If Russell is out for any period of time, Combs and sophomore RHP Nate Snead would be the most likely candidates to be the third weekend starter alongside AJ Causey and Drew Beam.
After Combs relieved Russell in the ninth inning, Ethan Groff hit a two-run single, and Treyson Hughes drove in a run with a groundout to take an 8-5 lead. The Vols got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the frame but couldn’t rally. Tennessee and Ole Miss will compete at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday in Lindsey Nelson Stadium in the series rubber match.
