{"id":36025,"date":"2022-06-04T04:15:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T04:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/no-1-vols-opening-ncaa-tournament-without-key-piece\/"},"modified":"2022-06-04T04:15:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T04:15:08","slug":"no-1-vols-opening-ncaa-tournament-without-key-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/no-1-vols-opening-ncaa-tournament-without-key-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 1 Vols opening NCAA Tournament without key piece"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The top-ranked Tennessee baseball team will open the NCAA Tournament without one of its most indispensable players.<\/p>\n

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Senior catcher Evan Russell<\/b> is not in the lineup and not available for the Vols’ Knoxville Regional opener against Alabama State on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, a program source confirmed to GoVols247.<\/p>\n

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Tennessee did not offer a reason for Russell’s absence or the expected length of the absence, but a program official said the matter would be addressed by Vols coach Tony Vitello<\/b> after Friday’s game.<\/p>\n

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Tennessee senior catcher Evan Russell (Photo: Gary Cosby Jr., USA TODAY Sports)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cEvan is not available today,\u201d UT’s statement said. “Coach Vitello will address his status of him after the game.”<\/p>\n

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Redshirt freshman Charlie Taylor – who entered the season as the Vols’ No. 3 catcher and typically plays only in midweek games – is in the starting lineup for Friday’s game against the Hornets.<\/p>\n

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After spending a majority of the regular season ranked No. 1 nationally and carving up the SEC in the regular season and conference tournament, Tennessee has been considered the heavy favorite to win this season’s College World Series.<\/p>\n

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If Russell is out for an extended period of time, though, the calculus could change.<\/p>\n

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Russell – a converted outfielder – is tied with Todd Helton<\/b> for the Tennessee program record with 38 career home runs, and he’s hitting a career-high .299 (with 13 home runs, 30 extra-base hits and 43 RBI) this season.<\/p>\n

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Taylor is a natural catcher and better defensive player than Russell, but he’s struggled tremendously at the plate this season. He’s hitting .065 in 43 plate appearances, with two base hits, two RBI, six walks draws and five hits-by-pitch.<\/p>\n

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Another converted outfielder – redshirt freshman Jared Dickey<\/b> – has caught for Tennessee this season, but he’s been hindered for weeks by a foot bone bruise and was not expected to be available defensively this weekend. Vitello said Thursday afternoon that he’d feel comfortable letting Dickey run the bases in certain situations, but that he’d rather not play him defensively in the outfield. The same logic could be applied to putting Dickey behind the plate defensively, but Vitello didn’t specifically discuss that.<\/p>\n

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