Why Dylan Volantis is the head of the NCAA playoff snake for Texas baseball | Golden

Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) throws in the second inning as the Texas Longhorns play the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first of a three game series, May 1, 2026. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman)

Volantis was nails after the early homer. Using his trusted sinker, which is one of the filthiest out pitches in the game, the Longhorns' big lefty lowered his ERA to a league-best 2.05 by throwing shutout ball over the next seven innings with 11 strikeouts and a single walk. This was the Volantis we have become accustomed to seeing.

He’s the nastiest lefty in the country and depending on who you ask, the best hurler in the SEC though Florida fans would obviously point to their star right-hander Aidan King.

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Volantis is usually a stoic iceman out there, a 6-foot-6 mound surgeon who doesn’t allow a whole lot to bother him, but after Tennessee touched him up for six hits and a pair of runs in the first three innings of a 5-1 loss in his last start, his steely facade showed a small crack. Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner noticed.

“If anything, we saw some body language that we hadn’t seen before,” Schlossnagle said. “Maybe it’s because he hadn’t been through that before.”

And it’s why Schlossnagle went up to his charge in the dugout with a clear reminder.

“Hey, you’re Dylan Volantis,” he said. “Don’t ever let that leave your mind.”

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With the way Volantis has performed in his first season-and-a-half at Texas, it’s easy to forget that he’s just a 19-year-old sophomore in his first year as a starter.

“Not for me,” Schossnagle said. “That guy is going to be back here next year. I don’t forget how young he is, but he’s super talented. We just want to take good care of him so he can have a great career here and beyond.”

Volantis has created some enormous expectations and no one expects more of No. 99 than the man himself.

“I was really disappointed in myself,” he said of the Tennessee experience. “We lost, but as a good team, you compete and move on.”

Texas Longhorns infielder Casey Borba (31) celebrates a home run during the game against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday, May. 14, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)

I asked Casey Borba, who continued his home run tear Thursday with a fourth dinger in six games, about Volantis’ rough outing — at least by his standards — in Knoxville last weekend and the slick infielder who dazzled in his return to third base flashed a wry grin.

“If that’s a rough one when you give up three runs, that’s pretty good,” Borba said. “Dylan’s one of the best pitchers in the SEC, if not the best pitcher in the SEC. He’s a beast and he gets after it every week.”

The head of the snake

Normally, an everyday player would be considered the barometer of a team and the Horns have plenty of candidates, including superstar transfers in outfielder Aiden Robbins and catcher Carson Tinney, who hit his 18th homer Thursday, an eighth-inning solo blast that provided a bit of insurance after the Tigers had roughed up reliever Haiden Leffew for a pair of runs in the top half of the frame. Sam Cozart eventually closed it out and fans breathed a sigh of relief.

The Longhorns are unique in that a pitcher who's used to throwing only once in a weekend is their most impactful player. That will be magnified come the Austin Regional or beyond when Volantis may have to come back and throw on short rest. Perhaps it's why his coaches trotted him back out there for a seventh inning with him approaching 100 pitches.

Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) throws a pitch during the game against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday, May. 14, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)

The Leffew struggles aside, this is Texas' formula for success: an unhittable Volantis goes six or seven innings with some big-time offense at his back. Then Cozart comes in for the finish if the middle relief holds up.

The next time we see Volantis in a game, the Horns will be hosting a regional at the conference tourney. There is little value in throwing him before then, unless the coaches want to give him a one-inning taste of live ball at the SEC tournament. Frankly, they know what they're getting and nothing in Hoover, Ala. will change how they view the head of this team's playoff snake. Expect to see Ethan Walker, Brody Walls or Michael Winter in Texas' opener.

At this point, it’s all about keeping your best players as healthy as possible for the money games. It's especially true of Volantis. While the Horns have plenty of offensive firepower, the Tennessee experience showed that if he is off his game, which is about as often as Halley’s Comet visiting Earth, the Horns can be had.

Volantis’ importance cannot be overstated. He’s this team’s Hooton. Its Clemens. Its Swindell. The Horns will only go as far as he can take them.