Tennessee baseball is making a late addition to its 2025 roster, adding former North Carolina first baseman Alberto Osuna late Friday night, KnoxNews Mike Wilson first reported.
Osuna started his college career at Walters State for a year before playing three years at North Carolina. Those four seasons had Osuna out of eligibility and planning to play one final college season at defending Division-II National Champion Tampa University.
But the Diego Pavia lawsuit that ended with a court saying that the NCAA couldn’t count junior college seasons against a players eligibility at the Division-I level. That sets the stage for Osuna getting an extra year of Division I eligibility though the NCAA will still have to officially approve it before he can suit up for the Orange-and-White.
Osuna was a three-year starter for North Carolina at both first base and designated hitter. The right-handed bat combined to hit .259 with 32 doubles, 45 home runs and 140 RBIs in his three seasons at North Carolina.
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During the 2024 season, Osuna hit .281 with 17 doubles,14 home runs and 56 RBIs on the Tar Heels run to the College World Series. The slugger hit a career-best 20 home runs during the 2022 season.
First base is one of the biggest question marks on Tennessee’s roster. Alex Perry and Dalton Bargo both competed for playing time at first base back in the fall with neither having an abundance of experience at first base.
But Perry left the Tennessee baseball program earlier this month due to personal reasons leaving Bargo and backup catchers Stone Lawless and Levi Clark as the candidates to start at first base. With projected starting catcher Cannon Peebles not working behind the plate due to an arm issue at the moment, Lawless and Clark have had to spend more time there.
Adding Alberto gives Tennessee a strong candidate to start at first base though his late addition could make it more challenging for him to start opening day.
Tennessee opens up its 2025 season in less than two weeks when they open a three-game series against Hofstra on Friday, Feb. 13.
