By Stephen Mason
In a game billed as a pitching duel, Friday night’s series opener between the Tennessee Volunteers (33-17, 12-13 SEC) and the No. 4 Texas Longhorns (36-11, 15-8 SEC) did not disappoint.
While Texas starter Dylan Volantis was the favorite heading in, it was Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns who came away with the win after a career performance, powering his team to a 5-1 victory.
Before the team even took batting practice, Texas native and Tennessee relief pitcher Brandon Arvidson set the tone for his teammates and coaches. Early Friday morning, he posted on the team’s GroupMe that the Volunteers were going to win the game.
“You grow up watching them play, especially being from Dripping Springs right outside of Austin, but it was a big game for us, regardless of who we were playing. We’ve got to get some wins in the next couple of weeks, so that was the main focus,” Arvidson said.
While Arvidson contributed down the stretch, game one’s victory was led by a stellar performance from Kuhns, who put together seven phenomenal innings in front of a rocking Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“It was incredible stuff, and the crowd had his back … that was one of the coolest, loudest places I have ever heard. Great atmosphere and obviously Tegan competed very well,” second baseman Blake Grimmer said.
Throughout the outing, Kuhns demonstrated incredible control, keeping the ball away from the center of the zone and the sluggers of the Texas lineup—a stark contrast from his rocky outing in Lexington last week.
“It was rough in Kentucky. I was leaving balls over the middle of the plate, and tonight I was not… When I don’t leave it down the middle, it’s pretty good,” Kuhns said.
Utilizing a large toolbox of pitches, Kuhns made things extremely difficult for the Longhorns, who struggled to make contact. Kuhns finished the night with 15 strikeouts, a career high and a milestone that only one other SEC pitcher has reached this year.
The total is also the most by a Volunteer in over 20 years when James Adkins notched 15 strikeouts versus Winthrop in the NCAA Knoxville Regional.
In the seven innings he was on the mound, Kuhns gave up only four hits, two of which were back-to-back singles in the seventh. It looked like this would end his night as head coach Josh Elander made his way to the mound with two Longhorns on and two outs.
“I just went out there and said, ‘You’re not giving me the ball, man, you’ve got one more out to get,’” Elander said. “It was just a chance for us to get a little reset, and what a performance by Tegan, he was immaculate tonight.”
Even though one of the next pitches was turned into a deep foul ball, Kuhns settled back in and struck out the next batter he faced, putting a bow on the performance.
“We needed to win this series, and we needed to be better on Friday night. And we did that, both pitching, hitting, and in the bullpen, so it’s really good to see us put all those things together,” Kuhns said.
After Kuhns exited, Arvidson finished the game for the Volunteers. While he gave up a solo home run to Aiden Robbins, which put the Longhorns on the board, he struck out four batters to seal the win.
Heading into the game, it looked like the Tennessee offense was in for a massive challenge against Texas ace Volantis, who entered with a 7-0 record and a 1.87 ERA. However, the Volunteers played scrappily in the first two innings and got three runs off him early.
Grimmer led the offense with two hits and two RBIs, and freshman Trent Grindlinger stayed hot at the plate with an RBI of his own. Tennessee scored two insurance runs in the seventh and cruised to the victory.
The team’s Friday night struggles have been no secret; the win over Texas is only their third in SEC Friday play. However, they have now placed themselves in a prime position to win the series by saving the bullpen and getting past the Longhorns’ best pitcher.
“It’s been a minute since we’ve won a game on Friday night, so this is a big one. I told the guys to enjoy it; they need to for the rest of the night, but then they have to turn the page for tomorrow,” Elander said.
Up Next: Game two of the battle of the UTs will be played Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Evan Blanco will make the start for Tennessee.