Gavin Kilen listed on Thursday’s availability report ahead of Texas A&M series

Tennessee baseball listed two players as OUT on the Thursday student-athlete availability report ahead of the Vols’ weekend series against Texas A&M, beginning on Friday evening at 7 o’clock on ESPNU.

Transfer Alberto Osuna, who is still fighting for his eligibility this season, is listed as OUT and will not be available this weekend. Pitcher AJ Russell was listed as out as well due to his next outing likely coming in the midweek after making his return to action this past Tuesday.

Starting second baseman Gavin Kilen, who has recorded just one at-bat for the Vols over the past eight games, is working to recover from a hamstring injury and was listed as questionable.  

 “The thing for us is to get Gavin (Kilen) in the lineup,” Tony Vitello said on Tuesday. “And then probably next would be defense. I don’t know if it will come together.”

Kilen made his return back to the field Saturday afternoon during the second for a three-game series on the road at South Carolina’s Founders Park.

He came on as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth, in place of designated hitter Levi Clark. It was his first game action since injuring his hamstring on Tuesday, March 18, against east Tennessee State. The at-bat ended with a groundout to shortstop as he swung at the first pitch he saw.

“Gavin is better. Making progress, for sure,” Vitello previously said last week. “He’s been able to swing a little bit. We’ll probably go slower than he wants on that, but, you know, we’ll see. There’s a good chance he could at least do something this weekend.”

Kilen was listed as questionable and then a game-time decision before Friday’s contest at South Carolina. His pinch hit appearance on Saturday was his lone at-bat of the weekend. Kilen was listed as available on Sunday, but did not play. He also did not appear in Tuesday’s midweek win over Tennessee Tech.

Kilen led Tennessee in average (.431), hits (31), home runs (10, RBI (25), runs (32) and slugging percentage (.986) at the time of his injury. Starting third baseman, freshman Manny Marin, shifted to the keystone this past weekend while Dalton Bargo got the start in the hot corner in game one at Alabama. Dean Curley slid down to play third base in the final two games. Freshman Chris Newstrom started at second base on Tuesday against Queens.

Russell was listed as OUT on Thursday’s availability report after making his return to the mound on Tuesday for an 12-pitch clean first inning of work that possessed a pair of strikeouts. It was Russell’s second appearance of the year and his first since logging a perfect inning on February 25.

Vitello indicated he would likely return to action on Tuesday when the Vols welcome Alabama State for midweek action.

“I’ve just been kind of working up a pitch count and kind of the same thing from what it was before,” Russell said afterwards. “Live ABs [at-bats], bullpens. Just making sure everything was good.

“I want to be out there. I want to help this team win as much as humanly possible. It’s also, we have got to be smart about it. Not rush back and do anything that can hurt you in the long run too.”

He was flawless in his return to the mound on February 25 against North Alabama, tossing a clean inning with three strikeouts while hitting 97 miles per hour on the radar gun. He hadn’t pitched since then prior to Tuesday, however, though there were no setbacks, according to Tennessee coach Tony Vitello.

“Zero. Not even close,” he said in early March. “The opposite. No setbacks.

“It was a deal where AJ’s an abnormal kid and he got ahead of that program quicker than the average guy. So, I think it’s time for everybody that’s involved to take a deep breath, have a conversation and say, ‘he showed what he can do’. We feel good about the throwing program and the protocol, but let’s take a deep breath and look out for the long run of what we’re trying to do with our season and his career combined.”   

Russell has Tommy john surgery in June and proved a shorter recovery timeline as the repair was done with an internal brace.

The Vols (27-2, 8-1 SEC) began the 2025 campaign with 20-straight wins and acceded back to the No. 1 ranked team in the country. Texas A&M enters the weekend with the inverse record in Southeastern Conference play and a 14-14 mark overall under first-year head coach Michael Earley. The team was the unanimous preseason No. 1 program in the country and still boasts tons of talent on the roster.

Tennessee is coming off a weekend sweep on the road at South Carolina with a midweek victory over Tennessee Tech while the Aggies dropped a series at home to Kentucky before taking a 21-7 midweek decision over UIW on Tuesday.