HOOVER, Ala. — Tony Vitello made a pact with junior reliever Brandon Arvidson during Tennessee baseball’s Tuesday practice at UAB. If the Vols advanced to face Texas in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, Arvidson would pitch.
Arvidson’s ties to the Longhorns go deep. A Lone Star State native, Arvidson started his career playing for now Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle at Texas A&M. The lefty was committed to Texas out of junior college last summer before the Longhorns’ fired David Pierce and hired Schlossnagle. It was that sequence that led Arvidson to Tennessee and Tuesday’s pact. He made the most of the opportunity in the Vols’ 7-5 extra-innings win.
“Arvidson was outstanding. He was really the difference in the game,” Schlossnagle said postgame.
“It was an epic effort,” Vitello added.
Arvidson relieved Liam Doyle with a runner on third and two outs in the fourth inning. The reliever stranded the runner on third with a strikeout. It set the tone for his outing.
The junior college transfer struck out nine Texas batters in 5.1 innings pitched. Arvidson pitched into the 10th inning before two hits and an error of his own doing ended his evening. He gave up just the one unearned run on four hits, allowing Tennessee to push the game into extra innings at 4-4.
Arvidson’s curveball paired with his mid-90s fastball kept batters off balance. That pairing is why Arvidson was so sought after out of San Jacinto College and why Tennessee had such high hopes for him this season.
“He’s 6-foot-5 and throws it over the top of his head from the moon,” Tennessee infielder Gavin Kilen said postgame. “I’ve never been able to hit it (the curveball).”
The dominant outing against Texas is enough for a feel good story on its own. But it’s Arvidson’s outings leading into it that makes the performance such a noteworthy development for Tennessee.
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In Arvidson’s last four outings, dating back to game two of the Arkansas series, he’s allowed zero earned runs in 8.1 innings pitched. He posted a 45% strikeout rate and 3% walk rate, just one walk, in that smaller sample size. In 11 outings and 10.1 innings pitched against SEC combination before that, Arvidson posted a still strong 34.6% strikeout rate but a 17% walk rate and a 7.84 ERA.
“Just getting ahead,” Arvidson said about the difference. “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 did just that against the Longhorns. He threw first pitch strikes against 17 of the 21 Texas batters he faced on Thursday, constantly getting ahead in the count and attacking.
The talent has always been there for Arvidson. From Vitello’s perspective, the success was just a matter of time once he got more SEC experience.
“I think he just needed reps. I think it’s accumulated,” Vitello said. “I think he just needed some SEC reps and figure out, yeah, it’s arguably the best college baseball, but it’s just college baseball and therefore it’s just baseball.”
Tennessee’s bullpen has been a definite weakness in SEC play, but it’s showing signs of life at the right time. Pair Arvidson’s late season emergence with AJ Russell, who keeps looking better while throwing longer outings, and there’s all of a sudden reasons for optimism with the group.
Arvidson gives Tennessee a second strong left-handed reliever to pair with Dylan Loy, giving Vitello more flexibility to play matchups. If Arvidson can throw effectively in long relief then Nate Snead can empty the tank in shorter outings which is where he’s largely been most effective this season. But even in 2.2 innings of long relief against Texas, Snead turned in his best outing in at least a month.
The sample sizes remain relatively small but Tennessee’s bullpen seems to be trending in the right direction at the right time.
