Tennessee P AJ Russell returns to lineup for Tuesday game against North Alabama

AJ Russell is back for the 7-0 Tennessee Volunteers.

Russell has been tabbed as the UT starter for Tuesday’s game against North Alabama. The team made the announcement before first pitch on social media.

Welcome back 33.#GBO // #BeatUNA pic.twitter.com/Vdn5QypKcn

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 25, 2025

The 6-6, 223-pound junior from Franklin, Tennessee is in his third season with the Volunteers. He has yet to play in 2025, but was named a 2025 preseason All-American by Baseball America. Russell shined in 2023 and is looking to bounce back after being limited by the injury bug in 2024.

Last season, Russell made just 6 appearances (4 starts). He impressed in his 2024 season debut, throwing a career-high 4.1 innings against Texas Tech, allowing 3 hits while striking out 10 batters. He also had 3 scoreless in a game against Albany.

Soreness sidelined Russell for 2 weeks in March. He then returned for appearances against Alabama and Ole Miss before missing all of April and most of May due to injury. He did not pitch again until late May in the 2024 SEC Tournament.

Russell was named a Freshman All-American for his stellar 2023 season. As a freshman, Russell posted a 0.89 ERA over 30.1 IP in 24 appearances with 1 start. He allowed just 9 hits for an opposing batting average of 0.95 and was charged with 4 earned runs.

Now that he is recovered from offseason surgery, Vols fans are looking forward to seeing if Russell can pick up where he left off. Tuesday’s game is set for a 4:30 p.m. ET first pitch, streaming on SEC Network+.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.