Dylan Volantis made an immediate impact in Austin as a freshman last season. The lanky lefty was one of, if not the most dynamic high-leverage relievers in all of college baseball, allowing just 11 earned runs over 51 innings, good for a 1.94 ERA, a .185 opposing batting average and 12 saves.
As a result, Volantis earned a slew of accolades, including multiple First Team All-American nods, as well as All-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year honors. That’s a high bar to clear, especially considering the added pressure that was coming Volantis’ way as a sophomore.
Many expected him to make the move from the bullpen to the weekend rotation, and the Texas staff obliged. That transition has been burdensome on some of the top arms in college baseball in years past. Not Volantis.
Attacking hitters with a unique release point and devastating arsenal that’s buoyed by elite breaking balls, the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder has been a marksman on the mound all year long. Volantis totes an 8-1 record and 2.05 ERA — the best in the SEC by 0.45 points — across 13 starts.
He’s struck out 105 batters, the third-most in the league, and walked just 22. Volantis allowed multiple earned runs in just four starts all year and surrendered more than five hits just three times. Completing five innings 10 times, he’s routinely gone deep into games, taking some weight off the shoulders of the Longhorns’ bullpen.
Volantis started on Sundays for the first eight weeks of the season before a rainout led head coach Jim Schlossnagle to bump him up to Fridays for the last five weeks. In those five outings, he allowed just seven runs and struck out 48 across 30 IP.
The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native could very well leave The Forty Acres as one of the best pitchers in program history when his time as a Longhorn is all said and done.
