Texas baseball lefthander Dylan Volantis spent 5⅓ innings this weekend introducing Georgia's lineup to physical gifts that anyone with a discerning eye could identify without a second look.
The 6-foot-6 freshman paired a sinking fastball from a sky-high arm angle with a wipeout curveball that befuddled one of college baseball's best lineups across two outings. But the traits that stood out to his catcher, Rylan Galvan, are mental.
"It's crazy," said Galvan, who slugged a walk-off homer to secure a series sweep on Sunday. "I've never seen a freshman like that coming in and just the moment not being too big for him in any situation so far. He's not perfect. It would be unfair to say that you expect him to go out there and be perfect."
But he's been about as close as it gets.
Volantis lowered his season era to 0.95 with four scoreless innings of relief on Sunday, striking out eight Bulldogs in the process. In his last 26⅓ innings of work, he has surrendered one earned run.
That sparkling performance put the finishing touches on a spectacular weekend for the Texas pitching staff.
The Georgia lineup began the series as college baseball's second-most-prolific bunch, having plated 327 runs in 31 games. That comes out to an average of about 10.5 runs per game. In three games against the Longhorns (26-4, 11-1 SEC), the Bulldogs (29-5, 8-4) totaled eight runs combined.
The Texas staff struck out 38 Bulldogs over the weekend, 15 of which came in the combined gem from Volantis and Ruger Riojas in a 4-3 win on Sunday. Georgia stars Robbie Burnett and Ryland Zaborowski ‒ both in the top five nationally entering the weekend with 15 and 14 home runs, respectively ‒ combined to go 3-for-21 with one extra-base hit in the series.
"The lineup doesn't really matter," Volantis said. "A very good team, very good hitters, well-known, but just going in there and just filling up the zone no matter who was hitting."
Volantis was not the only Texas pitcher to dominate. Ace Jared Spencer pitched into the eighth and allowed just two hits as he struck out 11 Bulldogs in a 5-1 Longhorn victory on Friday. Max Grubbs was equally untouchable in relief, tossing 3⅓ scoreless innings in a 7-4 Saturday win for Texas.
Others had to battle. Luke Harrison overcame some sloppy defense behind him and a difficult start to pitch into the sixth inning on Saturday, striking out nine. Likewise, Riojas issued four free passes in the third inning on Sunday, but reclaimed a game that threatened to get away from him. He completed six innings and gave up three runs despite fighting uncharacteristic control issues.
"It takes courage to throw the ball in the strikezone," Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "...(Pitching coach Max Weiner) challenged the itchers that the team that dominates the middle part of the strike zone is going to have the best weekend."
