Brandon Arvidson’s gem over Texas latest chapter in fascinating story

Brandon Arvidson turned down draft opportunities to become a Tennessee Volunteer. Before that, he signed with Texas out of junior college but had a change of heart with the coaching move that brought in Jim Schlossnagle.

And if you look back further on the back of his baseball card, Arvidson began his career at Texas A&M in 2023 with Schlossnagale as the head coach. To say his career-best outing came on Thursday against the Longhorns with the veteran skipper leading the change – well, that’s just great storytelling.  

“Yeah, it’s definitely an incentive to pitch better, but I was excited to go out there no matter who we were facing,” the lefty answered when asked if he had a little extra for the Longhorns today. “But the curveball was really working today. Felt like I could throw it anywhere, and the fastball command was good, as well. Yeah, that was about it.”

The theme entering the day was another Tennessee southpaw in National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist Liam Doyle, who made the start. The story quickly shifted to Texas spot-starter (and fellow lefty) Ethan Walker, who mowed down the Volunteer order his first time through after tossing just 6.2 innings on the season entering the day.

By the latter frames of Thursday’s eventual 7-5 Tennessee victory in 12 innings, Arvidson was the story. And boy, it was a good one.

“Just getting ahead,” the pitcher said on his mindset. “I mean, that’s kind of been the focus all year, and why I faced some struggles earlier in the year is just falling behind hitters and clawing my way back into counts. So, just getting ahead has been big for me.”

Arvidson struck out five of the first seven batters he faced. He retired as many as 10-straight, working a career-best 5.1 innings of one-run baseball. He struck out a career-high nine batters and threw a career-most 85 pitches (60 strikes).

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello knew how much this game would mean for the hurler and forged an agreement with him ahead of the tournament’s start.

“I was a little nervous coming to the ballpark today. He was signed to go there, and there were some changes, so we were able to have Brandon come to Tennessee,” the skipper said. “We had a pact that he was guaranteed to pitch in this game. I’m kind of glad Liam (Doyle) didn’t throw a no-hitter or anything like that. Once he was in the game, he did the rest. The competitiveness was off the charts.”

Arvidson spent the first month of the season working as both a starter and a long-reliever. He later shifted more towards a specialist role for certain left-on-left matchups and that’s where he continues to see a bulk of his work.

Still, he’s been given more leeway lately and he’s performed well. Arvidson pitched a clean 2.1 innings at Arkansas last week. He struck out the one batter he faced on Wednesday against Alabama and the strikeouts have been racking up with 17 over his past five appearances.

The southpaw was at his best on Thursday and he allowed Tennessee to fight back in this one after initially falling behind 4-0.

“Arvidson was outstanding. He was really the difference in the game,” Schlossnagle mentioned in postgame. “Stretched through 85 pitches, punched out nine, walked one. Brandon was on our team at A&M a couple years ago, so I know he’s a good pitcher.”

The developments of AJ Russell and Arvidson lately give Tennessee some added confidence in the bullpen that’s been shaky for much of the season. Couple that with Nate Snead’s 2.2 innings of shutout baseball to end things on Thursday – there’s some growing confidence in the arm barn moving forward.   

Tennessee is playing some really good baseball the past week and a half. If Arvidson continues what he is doing, count on him to be a big player for the Vols in postseason play.