All Hands on Deck, Texas Baseball Has The Arms To Unload on Sunday

The Texas Longhorns are just one win away from reaching the pearly gates of Omaha. Despite being overshadowed by an offensively dominant day at the plate, the Texas pitching staff proved once again it's for real this postseason.

Led by ace Dylan Volantis, the Longhorns tapped the brakes for the Oregon Ducks' offense on Saturday, holding them to just three runs, taking a 11-3 victory to open up the Austin Super Regional.

Luke Harrison came out of the bullpen for the second time this postseason, but a 2-RBI home run by Ethan Mendoza in the sixth inning would allow the Longhorns to save one of their best arms for the Super Regional clincher tomorrow.

“We felt like we're going to use our six best guys,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “If we have a game on Monday, [Harrison] will be fine to pitch in that game as a starter, or if we have a chance to win tomorrow.”

Texas Bullpen is Fresh and Warm Heading Into Sunday

Texas Baseball, Brett Crossland — Texas freshman pitcher Brett Crossland tosses a pitch against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on May 2, 2026, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. | Noah McCord, The Reflector

Volantis did not have the same command of the ball in his second start of this postseason, and he walked four batters, tossed four wild pitches, a career high, and hit another Oregon hitter. Still, the sophomore pitcher tossed 10 strikeouts and only allowed two earned runs.

The Ducks struggled, despite having runners in scoring position in almost every inning of the game — in all, 17 runners were stranded on base despite outhitting the Longhorns.

Texas, working with a sizable lead heading into the sixth inning, rode Volantis despite nearing his career-high pitch count — a number he later broke in the inning. He was pulled after loading up the bases with a double, walk, and hit-by-pitch sequence for Thomas Burns.

Burns was able to pick up the second strikeout of the inning, but started to lapse, drawing a pair of walks to allow the Ducks to break their scoreless streak.

Surprisingly, Harrison emerged from the bullpen a second time this postseason to pick up the third and final out of the sixth inning. The veteran pitcher came back out in the seventh inning, picking up another strikeout while forcing two deceive balls in play for his defensive backdrop to capture.

“It's super cool to see Luke Harrison coming in that situation and just doing the job,” Volantis said. “He's the most trustworthy guy you can ever ask for.”

Harrison closed out his appearance, throwing just 27 pitches in 1.1 innings of play, setting up another opportunity for him to come out of the bullpen in a possible Super Regional-clinching game.

The Longhorns will roll out Ruger Riojas as their game two arm against Oregon, and with a fully rested bullpen available consisting of Sam Cozart, Haiden Leffew, and Brett Crossland, it's going to be an all-in push on the pitching side.

“One of my regrets last year was in the regional was not bringing Dylan in when we had a 6-1, 6-2 lead. … not going to let that happen again,” Schlossnagle said about his bullpen usage. “I've also watched guys like Augie and Coach Graham, specifically Wayne Graham and Van Horn, the greatest coaches in our sport, how they use their bullpen, and how they use their best pitchers in the biggest moments in a short series, which is what we're in.”

Although Cozart, Leffew, and Crossland left a lot to be desired in their most recent appearance in the Austin Regional final against UC-Santa Barbara. Leffew and Crossland were pulled within the same inning, lasting a combined 13 pitches for two walks and one single.

Cozart as well struggled, loading up the bases in the ninth inning and forcing Schlossnagle to opt for Harrison to come out of the bullpen to seal the victory.

Granted, the relief pitching trio saw its first game action in over two weeks, not appearing in the SEC Tournament in Hoover at the end of May.

The Longhorns will face Oregon’s ace, Will Sanford, and their premier relief arms in the critical game two, posing a surefire challenge for the bats to come through once again.

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