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Four Tennessee baseball players enter NCAA transfer portal  

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•06/13/25•

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Thomas Crabtree. Credit: UT Athletics
Thomas Crabtree. Credit: UT Athletics

Four Tennessee baseball names surfaced in the NCAAA transfer portal Friday morning, bringing the total number of departures up to seven since the end of the 2025 campaign.

Senior outfielder Colby Backus, sophomore right-handed pitcher Thomas Crabtree, redshirt-sophomore right-handed pitcher Austin Hunley and redshirt-freshman right-handed pitcher Brayden Sharp were the Vols who entered, joining pitcher Bryson Thacker and infielders Jack Jones and Robinson Martin who entered earlier in the week.

Backus, who may have one final year of eligibility due to the junior college waiver situation, played in 21 games this season for Tennessee, logging a .188 batting average with one run driven in. The Johnson City, Tenn. native spent three seasons on rocky Top and two seasons on the active roster, totaling five home runs on 13 RBI 15 hits with 23 runs scored. Backus was used primarily as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement throughout his Tennessee career.

Crabtree spent one season with the Vols after transferring up form the junior college ranks. The righty appeared in 12 games, accumulating a 2-0 record with a 3.00 ERA across 15.0 innings pitched. He struck out 20 batters, walked five and opponents registered a .151 batting average against him.   

Hunley, the younger brother of VFL Sean Hunley, combined to pitch 18.1 innings for Tennessee the past two seasons after redshirting in 2023 as a true freshman. The righty was 3-0 with a 4.42 ERA and 17 strikeouts to five walks with Tennessee.

Sharp, a two-way player for Tennessee, primarily focused on the mound his second year in the system. He appeared in eight games for the Vols this past season, totaling 15 strikeouts and five walks. In two seasons on the bump, sharp registered 11 appearances with a career ERA of 4.91. He also tallied seven career at-bats with Tennessee, scoring two runs.    

The 2025 non-graduate transfer portal opened on June 2 and will remain open until July 1. Players must have their name entered in the transfer portal by July 1 if they want to move on, but new destinations do not have to be made by that time.

Tennessee has added four players from the transfer portal thus far in the cycle and they are all right handed pitchers: Clay Edmondson (UNC Asheville), Mason Estrada (MIT), Bo Rhudy (Kennesaw State) and Brady Frederick (ETSU).

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