Dylan Volantis shines as Texas beats Mississippi State in top-10 showdown
By David Wasson
Published:
Friday night starters in college baseball are the aces of their rotation, ideally there to start a conference series off on a high note.
Dylan Volantis showed why he’s that ace for Texas on Friday night, striking out 12 Mississippi State hitters to help the fourth-ranked Longhorns to a 3-1 victory over the 10th-ranked Bulldogs in front of 6,747 at Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
Texas (34-9 overall, 14-7 SEC) has won three straight games and can secure the SEC series Saturday (3:30 pm ET, SEC Network+). Mississippi State (35-11, 13-9) lost for just the first time in its last 10 games.
Volantis scattered three hits and didn’t allow an earned run over six innings, sprinkling in two walks with 67 strikes over 107 pitches to improve to 7-0.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the second inning via a Ashton Larson RBI groundout, then added two more runs in the fifth via RBI singles by Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr.
Mississippi State finally got on the scoreboard once Volantis exited, as Gehrig Frei smacked a solo homer to left in the eighth. But Sam Cozart struck out all three Bulldogs he faced in the ninth to earn his seventh save. Tomas Valincius (7-2) took the loss.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
