{"id":37219,"date":"2022-06-05T03:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T03:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-russell-available-and-cleared-for-tennessee-baseball-vs-campbell\/"},"modified":"2022-06-05T03:47:20","modified_gmt":"2022-06-05T03:47:20","slug":"evan-russell-available-and-cleared-for-tennessee-baseball-vs-campbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-russell-available-and-cleared-for-tennessee-baseball-vs-campbell\/","title":{"rendered":"Evan Russell available and cleared for Tennessee baseball vs.  Campbell"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - Tony Vitello on Ben Joyce's first start for Tennessee baseball\">\n<div class=\"gnt_em_vp_w\" data-g-r=\"vp_tp\" data-c-vt=\"teal\" data-t-pl=\"teal-playlist-hero\"><button class=\"gnt_em_vp_a gnt_em_vp__tp_a\" data-g-r=\"vp_ap vp_tg\" data-c-vppids=\"[&quot;9779588002&quot;,&quot;9773338002&quot;,&quot;9773332002&quot;,&quot;9773331002&quot;,&quot;9691881002&quot;,&quot;9691879002&quot;,&quot;9691876002&quot;,&quot;9670215002&quot;,&quot;9595959002&quot;,&quot;9596006002&quot;,&quot;9596024002&quot;,&quot;9549795002&quot;,&quot;7351862001&quot;,&quot;7351856001&quot;,&quot;7351852001&quot;,&quot;7351803001&quot;,&quot;7351802001&quot;,&quot;7349767001&quot;,&quot;7349756001&quot;,&quot;7340682001&quot;,&quot;7340680001&quot;,&quot;7340630001&quot;,&quot;9531157002&quot;,&quot;9531153002&quot;,&quot;9531134002&quot;,&quot;9531131002&quot;,&quot;9522577002&quot;,&quot;9522176002&quot;,&quot;9522173002&quot;,&quot;9498327002&quot;,&quot;9498308002&quot;,&quot;7261183001&quot;,&quot;7261181001&quot;,&quot;7255306001&quot;,&quot;7255304001&quot;,&quot;6971770001&quot;,&quot;6947987001&quot;,&quot;6947976001&quot;,&quot;6878390001&quot;,&quot;6878381001&quot;,&quot;6878363001&quot;,&quot;6878341001&quot;,&quot;6878333001&quot;,&quot;6123013001&quot;,&quot;6123000001&quot;,&quot;6122968001&quot;,&quot;6122994001&quot;,&quot;5932768001&quot;,&quot;5932751001&quot;]\" data-c-vpattrs=\"{&quot;muted&quot;:true,&quot;bContent&quot;:false,&quot;an&quot;:&quot;tn-knoxville-C1262&quot;,&quot;pn&quot;:&quot;Knoxville News Sentinel&quot;,&quot;vidNum&quot;:1,&quot;svp&quot;:true}\" data-c-vpdata=\"{&quot;adsEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;awsPath&quot;:&quot;sports\/college&quot;,&quot;byline&quot;:&quot;Mike Wilson&quot;,&quot;canonicalURL&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;contentSourceCode&quot;:&quot;PKNS&quot;,&quot;createDate&quot;:&quot;2022-05-14T21:19:13Z&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:99000,&quot;headline&quot;:&quot;Tony Vitello on Ben Joyce's first start for Tennessee baseball&quot;,&quot;hlsURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/hlsmedia.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/video-renditions\/60e3c224-2df6-47ab-a47d-e04e3e1bdb32\/c72989aa-ca42-466b-93f5-24a08f1cf4d8\/1080p_30fps,720p_30fps,480p_30fps,master.m3u8?subtitles=9779667002&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9779667002&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/14\/PKNS\/1a3861c1-0367-4609-9b15-a2271b9cc777-TennesseeGeorgia0514_0505.jpg&quot;,&quot;opto&quot;:true},&quot;initialPublishDate&quot;:&quot;2022-05-14T21:19:13Z&quot;,&quot;keywords&quot;:&quot;Tennessee Volunteers&quot;,&quot;mp4URL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/downloadmedia.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/video-renditions\/60e3c224-2df6-47ab-a47d-e04e3e1bdb32\/c72989aa-ca42-466b-93f5-24a08f1cf4d8\/1080p_30fps.mp4&quot;,&quot;origin&quot;:&quot;Knoxville News Sentinel&quot;,&quot;pageURL&quot;:{&quot;long&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/videos\/sports\/college\/university-of-tennessee\/other-sports\/2022\/05\/14\/tony-vitello-ben-joyce-first-start-tennessee-baseball\/9779667002\/&quot;},&quot;promoBrief&quot;:&quot;Ben Joyce threw four innings in his first start for Tennessee baseball against Georgia&quot;,&quot;propertyName&quot;:&quot;TennGroup&quot;,&quot;publishDate&quot;:&quot;2022-05-14T21:19:13Z&quot;,&quot;series&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;ssts&quot;:{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;sports&quot;,&quot;subsection&quot;:&quot;college&quot;,&quot;topic&quot;:&quot;university-of-tennessee&quot;,&quot;subtopic&quot;:&quot;other-sports&quot;},&quot;tags&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;c2526fc8-0bcd-4e11-ba0e-efa2814bb73b&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Tennessee Volunteers&quot;}],&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Tony Vitello on Ben Joyce's first start for Tennessee baseball&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;\/videos\/sports\/college\/university-of-tennessee\/other-sports\/2022\/05\/14\/tony-vitello-ben-joyce-first-start-tennessee-baseball\/9779667002\/&quot;}\" aria-label=\"Play video\"> <span class=\"gnt_em_vp_sbtp\"\/><svg class=\"gnt_em_vp_svg\"><use xlink:href=\"#gnt_svg_video_play\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Evan Russell is available for Tennessee baseball&#8217;s game against Campbell on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Russell met with UT head team physician Chris Klenck on Saturday morning.  He was cleared to play following the meeting.  He wen through warmups with UT and was in the outfield prior to the game instead of being at catcher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Vols catcher was unavailable Friday in UT&#8217;s 10-0 win against Alabama State.  Vols coach Tony Vitello said afterward that Russell was sick Friday morning, but provided no details.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Jason Russell, Russell&#8217;s dad, tweeted that Russell had a &#8220;health issue &#8230; that kept him from playing.&#8221;  He stressed that Russell had not &#8220;failed any type of test or anything.&#8221;  He later added that Russell was dealing with some mental health issues.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;God is good &#8230; to answer all concerns and doubt. Evan is good and just to clarify what&#8217;s he been dealing with is anxiety, stress and pressure,&#8221; Jason Russell wrote.  &#8220;Basically just the worries and conviction of the Lord.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">No. 1 Tennessee (54-7) plays No. 3-seeded Campbell (41-17) at 7 pm ET (SEC Network) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.  Campbell beat No. 2 Georgia Tech 15-8 to advance earlier Friday.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/13\/PKNS\/bd501b77-f5ad-4a9c-abe4-83bdddebdb55-UTBaseballvsGeorgia_0640.jpg?crop=3646,2051,x0,y183&amp;width=660&amp;height=372&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" data-gl-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/13\/PKNS\/bd501b77-f5ad-4a9c-abe4-83bdddebdb55-UTBaseballvsGeorgia_0640.jpg?crop=3646,2051,x0,y183&amp;width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Russell has started 50 games for Tennessee this season, batting .299 with 13 homers.  Redshirt freshman Charlie Taylor started in Russell&#8217;s place.  Taylor went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a RBI on a sacrifice bunt on a squeeze play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Taylor started again Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">About 90 minutes before first pitch, Tennessee announced Russell would not be available against the Hornets and that Vitello would address his status postgame.  Calf deferred to team medical personnel about Russell&#8217;s status of him.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Calf shared that Russell texted him Friday morning saying he was sick, which led to his absence. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Russell&#8217;s absence was not related to any team, SEC or NCAA rules violation, a UT spokesperson said in a statement Saturday after ESPN commentator Troy Eklund, a former Arkansas outfielder, made false statements about why Russell wasn&#8217;t playing, fueling rumors that spread quickly through Vol Nation. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;Thrilled to update that Evan Russell is feeling better and back with the team,&#8221; UT athletics director Danny White wrote on Twitter.  &#8220;Sad that over the last 24 hours this young man has had to endure speculation and criticism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">UT administrators contacted ESPN and say they expect a public apology for Eklund&#8217;s comments.  Eklund suggested Russell was done for the year and the entire team would be subjected to drug tests, neither of which is true.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;I&#8217;d like to take this opportunity to apologize to Tennessee&#8217;s Evan Russell and the Volunteer program for inaccurate, unsourced information I used Friday night during the Stillwater Regional,&#8221; Eklund said during Missouri State vs.  Grand Canyon on Saturday.  &#8220;It was used in error and should not have been referenced. I regret any hurt or harm that it might have caused.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Russell has 38 career homers, tied with Todd Helton for the Tennessee program record.  The Lexington, Tennessee, native has played in 228 games as a Vol, one short of Pete Derkay&#8217;s program record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics.  Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByMikeWilson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">ByMikeWilson<\/a>.  If you enjoy Mike&#8217;s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evan Russell is available for Tennessee baseball&#8217;s game against Campbell on Saturday. Russell met with UT head team physician Chris Klenck on Saturday morning. He was cleared to play following the meeting. He wen through warmups with UT and was in the outfield prior to the game instead of being at catcher. The Vols catcher &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-russell-available-and-cleared-for-tennessee-baseball-vs-campbell\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Evan Russell available and cleared for Tennessee baseball vs.  Campbell<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/14\/PKNS\/1a3861c1-0367-4609-9b15-a2271b9cc777-TennesseeGeorgia0514_0505.jpg?width=660&height=371&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}