Texas baseball: Dylan Volantis dazzles with career-high 12 strikeouts vs Alabama

Even though Texas had lost four of its first five series openers in SEC play, Schlossnagle insisted that this decision wasn't related to performance. He just wanted to get Volantis back on the mound as soon as possible since he had missed out on pitching this past weekend when UT's Sunday game at Texas A&M was rained out. But after Friday's win, Schlossnagle also conceded that Volantis wouldn't be moving back to Sunday starts anytime soon.

"We'll keep him (on Friday)," Schlossnagle said. "If for no other reason than just to keep him in the proper rest, six, seven days rest. We'll just wait and see how the rest of the guys pitch. I feel pretty good about Ruger being a Friday night starter the same way I do about Dylan and Luke."

Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) celebrates a strikeout in the fifth inning as the Texas Longhorns play their first game of a three-game series against the Alabama Crimson Tide, April 17, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)

Using a 12-year-old pitch, Dylan Volantis shuts down Alabama

Volantis opened Friday's game with a three-pitch strikeout of Alabama leadoff hitter Bryce Fowler, and he eventually struck out five of the first seven batters that he faced. Volantis wasn't perfect – he committed a two-base throwing error on a pickoff attempt in the third inning, and Alabama scored one of its runs on a wild pitch – but the first-time Friday starter was able to work around most of the threats presented by the Crimson Tide.

An All-American closer as a freshman, Volantis had previously shrugged off his transition into a starting role. In the lead-up to the season, Volantis told reporters that "I'm not a starter or a closer. I'm a Longhorn." Was he in the mix for Friday starts? "I'm not really worried about or stressing about that," Volantis replied.

More: After Big East transfer, has Texas OF Aiden Robbins become one of the SEC's best hitters?

But after making his Friday debut, Volantis took note of the moment. When asked if he felt extra pressure going into Friday or if this assignment had given him any additional adrenaline, Volantis offered another descriptive word for the reporters in the room.

"Extra fun if that's an option," Volantis said. "You don't want to make it too big, so I wasn't thinking, like, oh, it's Friday or anything. At the end of the day, it was super sick. I'll remember that for the rest of my life, being able to start on Friday for the first time."

Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) throws in the first inning as the Texas Longhorns play their first game of a three-game series against the Alabama Crimson Tide, April 17, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)

Alabama struck out a season-high 17 times on Friday against Volantis and freshman reliever Sam Cozart, who picked up a three-inning save. While striking out every batter in the Alabama starting lineup at least once, Volantis said that he relied on his cutter and a sinker that he and UT pitching coach Max Weiner tinkered with during the game. There was also the curveball that he's been working on since he was eight.

Wait, eight? Are eight-year-olds supposed to be throwing curveballs?

"I don't twist anything, (I throw it) like a football," the 20-year-old Volantis explained. "So no stress on the arm. So I was able to throw it at that young age without having to hurt my wrist or anything."

The revelation that Volantis was throwing curveballs at that young of an age led to another follow-up question. Was he pitching against older kids when he was eight? Or were there eight-year-olds in California about a decade ago who were having the same problems that Alabama's lineup had on Friday night?

"I played one or two years up. That was just for all-stars or travel ball, whatever it was," Volantis said. "But yeah, normally it was just with my own age group."