Tennessee baseball defeated North Alabama 7-5 on Tuesday evening in its final tuneup before they head to Texas for the Astros Foundation College Classic.
The Vols jumped on North Alabama early and a trio of key pitchers made their season debuts in the midweek win. Here’s how Tennessee got the job done against the Lions
AJ Russell Returns
Right-handed pitcher AJ Russell made his return to the mound for Tennessee baseball on Tuesday 259 days after he underwent Tommy John surgery and 275 days after he last pitched in a game.
Russell’s rehab and recovery couldn’t have gone much better and he returned to the mound just eight games into Tennessee’s 2025 season. There was no sign of a rushed return or rust for Russell.
The right-handed pitcher started the game for Tennessee and was dominant in his lone inning pitched. Russell struck out all three batters he faced, catching all three Lion batters looking at fastballs. The junior’s fastball is his go-to pitch due to its ridiculous amount of run. It sat at 93-94 mph but touched 95 and 96 on a pair of pitches each.
Russell threw 17 total pitches in his lone inning on the mound and looked sharp. It’ll be interesting to see what Russell’s role is this weekend in Texas. Long term, he’s a strong candidate to earn Tennessee’s Sunday starter spot.
Some Notes On The Lineup
Tony Vitello has tinkered with Tennessee’s lineup throughout the early parts of the 2025 season. But ahead of a weekend where the Vols will face their first power five competition of the season, it was interesting to see what Vitello went with.
The first four spots in the order stayed the same though Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer spent the day at third base after spending most of the first two weeks at first base. In his place, backup catcher Stone Lawless started at first base while Levi Clark started at designated hitter. Clark hit one-spot ahead of Lawless as the two occupied the seven and eight spots in the order. Clark continued to rake, going two-for-two with a double and three walks.
Jay Abernathy hit in the nine-hole for the third straight game and continues to make things happen at the back of the order. That bottom three means Reese Chapman hit in the six-hole as he continues to slowly climb of the lineup. Chapman had another strong day, singling to left field twice on hard hit liners while working a walk. Cannon Peebles started at catcher and hit in the five-hole.
Tennessee’s midweek lineup is my favorite at this part of the season. It gets both Lawless and Clark’s bat in the lineup. The key is for Lawless to be good enough defensively at first base and the redshirt freshman was solid on Tuesday.
Vitello talked on Sunday about his confidence in Tennessee’s catching depth which is key for starting Lawless and Clark at other spots, particularly at designated hitter. It’ll be interesting to see if this lineup is a look at what Friday will look like or just another bit of tinkering.
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Two More Key Arms Make Season Debut For Tennessee
AJ Russell was the biggest name that made his season debut for Tennessee on Tuesday but he wasn’t the only one. Highly touted freshman Tegan Kuhns made his first collegiate appearance while sophomore Dylan Loy made his season debut.
Kuhns was slow to get going this season due to a prolonged bit of illness and then having to revamp up. The 6-foot-3 right-hander was crisp pitching in the fifth inning where he retire the side on 11 pitches with three groundouts.
The freshman went back to the mound for the sixth inning and struck out the leadoff batter and walked the second batter. That ended his day and the inherited runner did not end up scoring keeping Kuhns’ earned runs at zero.
Kuhns’ fastball was sitting 92-94 MPH in what was a strong first appearance. He’s bound to be a big part of Tennessee’s pitching staff somewhere and is a candidate to be a weekend starter.
Loy, who was slow to get going with season while dealing with a minor side injury, faced a little bit of adversity in the fourth inning. He allowed a softly hit double to right field to open up the inning but worked around the trouble with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.
The sophomore left hander is going to have a big role somewhere on Tennessee’s pitching staff. Pitching out of trouble could very much be his role.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee baseball heads to Texas this weekend for the Astros Foundation College Classic. The Vols open up play in the event at 4:05 p.m. ET Friday afternoon when they’ll face Oklahoma State.
