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Texas Baseball's Dylan Volantis Named Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Connor Zimmerlee | Last updated May 18, 2025 2:55 PM ET

There's an old saying in baseball that good pitching will always beat good hitting. Just how true that is can be debated at length, but what is hard to debate is the just how much the No. 3 Texas Longhorns embodied this philosophy in 2025.

As a staff they led the SEC with a sparkling 3.54 ERA, routinely shutting down opponents. And not just ho-hum opponents, either, with several of the nation's top lineups proving to be no match for Texas' stable of arms. However, among all that talent, no one made a name for himself better than freshman southpaw Dylan Volantis.

Tabbed as the closer in his first year on campus, the electric hurler dominated opponents pretty much every single time he toed the rubber. He was so dominant that on Sunday afternoon it was announced that he had been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, college baseball's most prestigious award.

Don't let us be the ones to tell you exactly how dominant Volantis was. His numbers speak for themselves, as he recorded 12 saves on the season. Of those 11 came in conference play, which set the record for most by a freshman in SEC history. His prowess on the mound doesn't stop there, either.

golden boy #HookEm | @USAGoldenSpikes | @DylanVolantis pic.twitter.com/lcmmA8rc0g
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) May 18, 2025

The freshman finished the regular season as one of the Longhorns' most used arms, with his 43.1 innings of work placing him fifth on the team for most innings pitched. A heavy workload didn't bother him either, as he recorded a sensational 1.66 ERA, .88 WHIP and a 4-0 record while striking out 64 and walking only 11.

Seeing Volantis come out of the bullpen was not a fun sight for opponents of the Longhorns in 2025. His mixture of pitches and ability to command them perfectly made him nearly impossible to solve, regardless of how strong a lineup was.

While he might not ultimately become the second Longhorn to win the prestigious award, to even be named a semifinalist is a major accomplishment. And fortunately for Texas the electric southpaw is only just getting started.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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