Removing an arm like AJ Russell from the rotation would be a problematic thing for most college baseball programs, and it would be a really problematic thing for many, even if only for a couple of weeks.
It looks unlikely to leave a dent on Tennessee.
The Vols didn’t even move co-ace Drew Beam from Saturday to Friday. They just plugged in junior right-hander AJ Causey, who struck out nine and allowed one hit in seven dominant innings in an 11-1, run-rule win over Bowling Green on Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
You can scoff at the name Bowling Green, and you wouldn’t be totally off the mark. The Falcons were picked in the middle to finish somewhere below the middle of the MAC. But until they came to Knoxville for this weekend’s series, they’d been competitive in every game they’d played — something that absolutely tells you something in a sport so riddled with parity. They lost series at Middle Tennessee State and Memphis to open the season, but they won a game in each series and never got dusted. And they’re at their most dangerous on Friday nights, when two-way star DJ Newman starts on the mound. The sophomore right-hander hits leadoff for the Falcons even when he’s pitching, and he entered this weekend with a .423 batting average and a freshly awarded MAC Pitcher of the Week honor after striking out 11 and allowing two hits in a 9-1 blowout win at Memphis.
Vols coach Tony Vitello wouldn’t have been blamed for bumping Beam up one day to Friday, ensuring his only available SEC-proven starter would be matched up with a pitcher Vitello considers SEC-weekend caliber.
He didn’t do that, though — and not just because Russell is expected back sooner than later.
Tennessee’s coach and everyone else in his program felt totally comfortable giving Causey the ball to start a series.
Vitello’s gift of gab is well-known, but he insisted Causey might have been a weekend starter heading into the season if he hadn’t been quite as good as he was from the first days he stepped on campus in the offseason as transfer from Jacksonville State. To hear Vitello describe it, Tennessee opening the season against a very good Texas Tech team with a potential first-round starting pitcher necessitated the decision to couple Causey with Russell to open the season with a big win.
