Dylan Volantis, No. 4 Texas Rolls No. 10 Mississippi State in Series Opener

As he has continued to prove time and time again for the past two years, when No. 99 walks onto the mound, whether as a reliever or a starter, the Longhorns are in a good place.

Dylan Volantis has become one of the best pitchers in the nation, and against the No. 10 Mississippi State Bulldogs, with its imposing lineup of .300 batting average hitters, rolled for six innings.

Volantis matched his career high of 12 strikeouts while setting his career high of 107 total pitches in Texas’ 3-1 series opening victory over Mississippi State on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.

“I thought that Dylan was outstanding, what more can you say about him?” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.

Pitching Dominance and Situational Hitting

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Before the starting pitching rotation was swapped around for the Alabama series, the Longhorns struggled in series opening games, despite impressive performances from Ruger Riojas.

The Longhorns went 1-4 in series openers, but since the change, the Longhorns are now 2-0 with Voalntis in the starting role on Fridays.

Despite boasting one of the best batting orders in the country, with seven of their nine starting batters hitting above .300, Volantis did not struggle for its first four innings.

“Friday night in the SEC, like, it's just a different kind of vibe to it,” Volantis said. “I’m just trying to help out the team in any way to win a ball game.”

Volantis only allowed three hits in his 11th start of the season, his lowest mark since his final Sunday start against South Carolina. His best inning came in the fourth inning, as one ball spoiled his shot at an immaculate inning.

The Longhorns' sophomore started to get challenged in his final two innings of play as he got closer to his career high of pitches thrown. He was able to get out of his jam with two runners in scoring position, striking out lead-off hitter Gehrig Frei in the fifth.

With two outs, Volantis walked Blake Bevis but capped off another all-American performance, picking up strikeout No 12 on pinch hitter Vytas Valincius in the sixth.

Texas’ relief trio of Haiden Leffew, Thomas Burns and Sam Cozart maintained the dominance on the mound with Leffew allowing the lone home run of the night for either team in the eighth inning.

Cozart closed out the night with three strikeouts on just eight pitches, setting himself up for another appearance in the series. In all, the four Longhorn pitchers tossed for 19 strikeouts against the Bulldogs.

“I'm really satisfied with Leffew, Burns, Cozart, and Crossland,” Schlossnagle said. “We can use them to where maybe we don't wear them all down.”

Under Volantis’ control, the Longhorns hitters were able to find success against the Bulldogs' ace, Tomas Valincius.

Ethan Mendoza fired a line drive down the left field line for a double in the second. Mendoza was able to come home on an Ashton Larson groundout to put Texas up by one.

Texas added two more runs on the board in the fifth inning as Valincius started to top out. Aiden Robbins drove in Maddox Monsour for the first run and standout freshman Anthony Pack Jr. rocketed a hit following a lengthy hit-by-pitch review to send Robbins home to cap off the Longhorns' offense.

“That's a great pitcher over there. Stuff was great,” Pack Jr. said. “No matter who's on the mound, you just gotta compete, and ‘he would not beat me,’ that's my mentality.”

Texas will look to clinch its third top-10 series of the season tomorrow against Mississippi State at 2:30 p.m. CT.

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