Tennessee
RHP AJ Russell Is Inactive For Tennessee Baseball During Knoxville Regional | Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee right-handed pitcher AJ Russell is not active for this weekend’s Knoxville Regional, head coach Tony Vitello confirmed following the Vols’ 9-3 victory over Northern Kentucky on Friday night.
“No, he is not active,” Vitello said postgame. “Probably will get looked at again. We haven’t fast-forwarded there but just based on playing catch there is no need to battle the soreness factor. That is step one and step two would be make sure he is good to go and should be throwing at all.”
Vitello wouldn’t go as far as saying that they would shut Russell down for the rest of the season, just that they were going to reevaluate things after the right-handed pitcher is looked at again.
Russell missed nearly two months with forearm soreness before returning to the mound in a pair of one inning outings at the SEC Tournament last week. The sophomore pitcher worked around a pair of baserunners to post a scoreless inning against Vanderbilt before allowing a solo home run in an inning against LSU.
While the results were solid, Russell’s velocity was way down. After throwing in the upper 90s earlier this season, Russell’s fastball was 91-93 mph in Hoover.
More From RTI: Tennessee Baseball Knocks Off Northern Kentucky To Open Up NCAA Tournament
“What he did for us on Sunday was great,” Vitello said. “I think it was obvious with his couple outings he did give us that he hadn’t really been what his best version of himself is since Texas Tech (season opener).”
Russell suffered side soreness in his second start of the season against Albany before returning for two weeks early in SEC play before the forearm issue reared its ugly head. The right-handed pitcher’s status has been a cloud looming over the team all season due to his extreme talent.
“If anything, I think it alleviates the cloud − for these guys, too, and not just him but also us − (of) what is, what isn’t,” Vitello said. At least we are on one side of the fence or the other. Everyone knows we would rather be fully on the other.”
In Russell’s absence, Tennessee’s pitching staff has stepped up in a major way. Russell’s injury seemed like a near death sentence for the Vols when it happened but a number of players— most notably AJ Causey and Aaron Combs— have stepped up in a big way in his absence.
They’ll look to keep doing so as Tennessee resumes Knoxville Regional play on Saturday night when they face Indiana at 6 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee
$660,000 Daily Tennessee Jackpot winner in La Vergne – WBBJ TV
INCLUDES NEWS RELEASE FROM TENNESSEE EDUCATION LOTTERY
LOTTERY WINNER NEWS
Jan. 11, 2025
$660,000 DAILY TENNESSEE JACKPOT WINNER IN LA VERGNE
LA VERGNE– Congrats to a lucky Daily Tennessee Jackpot player in La Vergne, who won the game’s jackpot of $660,000 from the drawing held last night, Jan. 10.
The winning ticket was sold at Walmart Supercenter, 5511 Murfreesboro Road in La Vergne.
Daily Tennessee Jackpot is a Tennessee-only game with drawings held every day. Tickets are just a dollar per play, and for an extra dollar, players can add Quick Cash for the chance to win up to $500 instantly.
No additional information is available until the prize is claimed.
About the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation
The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation operates from the revenue it generates through the sale of its products. Since January 20, 2004, the Lottery has raised more than $8 billion to fund designated education programs, including college grants, scholarships, and K-12 after-school programs. In addition to the educational beneficiaries, players have won more than $22 billion in prizes and Lottery retailers have earned more than $2.1 billion in commissions.
For more Tennessee news stories, click here.
Tennessee
Tennessee mom loses leg in attack by her own pit bull that left limb ‘basically hanging off’
A Tennessee mom was forced to have her leg amputated after her pit bull savagely locked its jaws around the limb, leaving it “hanging on by a thread” as she tried to break up a dogfight inside her home.
Amanda Mears, 42, was preparing to take her mixed American Pit Bull-American Staffordshire, named Dennis, out for a walk when the dog lunged at Ralphie, an American Bully, after he escaped from a bedroom where he had been kept inside her Murfreesboro home, according to The Mirror.
As Mears, a health care worker, tried to intervene in the vicious attack, Dennis clamped onto her left leg and refused to release his grip, prompting her to choke the animal with her other leg to break free.
“When he charged at my other dog, Ralphie, I got in between them, and that’s when Dennis latched on to my leg and would not let go,” she told the outlet of the terrifying Dec. 10 incident.
“I was a bit scared, but I’ve broken up dog fights before, and I didn’t feel any pain because of the adrenaline. I ended up having to hook my right leg and my arms around him and choked him out to get him off me.”
She said the pit bull also bit her left hand and crushed the bone in her right arm — injuries she didn’t even realize she’d suffered amid her chaotic attempt to pry her dog’s jaws loose while also yelling at her 10-year-old son to stay in his room.
Once Mears finally broke free, she was rushed to a Nashville hospital, where her mangled leg was practically “hanging off.” Doctors told her she could either amputate the limb or undergo a series of painful surgeries over the next two years, the outlet reported.
“I wasn’t able to stand up because my leg was basically hanging off,” Mears, who has four dogs and also homes canines abandoned by their previous owners, recalled.
“I decided to have my leg amputated because to save my leg, I’d have had to have 12 more surgeries over the next two years and I would be in constant pain.”
Mears had her leg removed below the knee three days later and underwent surgery on her arms, according to a GoFundMe launched to help with her medical expenses.
She is also expected to be fitted for a prosthetic.
After spending a week in the hospital, the single mom chose to euthanize Dennis to keep her son safe.
“Dennis has always been the sweetest dog; he’d never been aggressive before,” she told the outlet.
“I decided to have Dennis put down, which was hard. He was my best friend, and I raised him from two weeks old. It was a decision that hurt, but it was not a difficult decision.”
Tennessee
Tennessee football beats out Ohio State for a top transfer portal target
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee football beat out Ohio State for transfer edge rusher Chaz Coleman, giving the Vols one of the top players in the portal.
Coleman spent one season at Penn State. With the Nittany Lions, the former four-star prospect collected eight tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble in nine games.
Coleman is a native of Warren, Ohio. His offer sheet out of Harding High School included Ohio State, Missouri, Illinois, Ole Miss and Kentucky, among others.
In Coleman’s lone season at Penn State, the Nittany Lions saw a plethora of change.
Former head coach James Franklin was fired in mid-October after a 3-3 start. After finishing the season with an interim staff, Penn State hired Matt Campbell as its next head coach.
The change in staff also led to the departure of Jim Knowles — Penn State’s defensive coordinator who served in that role at Ohio State from 2022-24. He’s not at Tennessee.
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