It's starting to feel like one of the big offseason additions for the Tennessee Vols baseball team won't be able to take the field at all this year. In surprising fashion, former UNC standout Alberto Osuna arrived to Knoxville to play for UT.
Originally, Osuna was out of D-I eligibility and he was all set to play for the University of Tampa. Instead, following Diego Pavia paving the way for JUCO players to get an extra year of eligibility, Osuna made the move to Tennessee to play for the reigning College Baseball World Series champs.
However, things hit a snag when he was deemed ineligible by the NCAA. Osuna decided to take legal action, but another setback has arrived for him, as a federal judge has reportedly denied his preliminary injunction. Now what?
Judge denies Alberto Osuna's bid for injunction as he attempts to play baseball for Tennessee https://t.co/RbTZlHB8xd
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 4, 2025
Alberto Osuna suffers another setback in his attempt to play for Tennessee baseball
With the NCAA ruling in favor of Pavia and other former JUCO players, it opened the door for them to have one more season of eligiblity starting next fall. However, no rules had been changed for student-athletes for the 2025 spring semester.
This is where Osuna and the Vols have run into a bit of a snag. The hope was that things would get settled and the slugger indeed would be able to play for Tennessee, but he's already missed plenty of action thus far to start the campaign.
Tennessee has been humming, looking like one of the top teams in the country once again. Following the 22-9 win over Radford on Tuesday night, the Vols are a perfect 12-0 on the season. Ax expected, UT has started the campaign red hot, but the only bummer is that things are totally unclear when it comes to Osuna.
Tony Vitello’s reaction to Monday’s court ruling on Alberto Osuna.
— Noah Taylor (@ByNoahTaylor) March 5, 2025
“We will make sure it is worth his while being at this place.” pic.twitter.com/zp3CPNfXbs
Head coach Tony Vitello isn't pleased with how things have gone for Osuna in this legal battle, but in the clip above, he passiontely said things will work out in the end for his veteran player. For now, Osuna can't grab a bat for the Vols, but let's see if something will change before it's too late.