FINAL
Santa Clara Broncos - 1
Texas Longhorns - 6
BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Dylan Volantis (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Max Bayles (1-1)
RECAP
LHP Dylan Volantis got the nod today as the coaching staff wanted to give Dylan a start before conference play. In the Top 1st, Volantis went deep in the count on the first batter but got a fly out. He then gave up back to back seeing eye singles. No damage was done though as he got the top power hitter on the Broncos to hit a ground ball to 2B Ethan Mendoza who fielded it, stepped on 2B and threw to 1B to complete the double play.
In the Bottom 1st, the Longhorns got on the board in the first inning for the second game in a row. 2B Ethan Mendoza drew a four pitch walk, followed by a RF Max Belyeu blooper over the head of 3B for a single. Mendoza tagged and advanced to 3B when SS Jalin Flores squared up a ball, hitting it out to CF, but the wind knocked it down and it was caught. Ethan Mendoza then scored when Santa Clara's starting pitcher Max Bayles tried a pick off through that bounced away from the defender at 1B giving the Horns an early 1-0 lead.
In the Top 2nd, Dylan Volantis came back out and struck out the side, needing only 12 pitches to do so. In the Bottom 2nd, the Horns got a 2 out single by Jaquae Stewart, the first of his Longhorn career, but that was it offensively.
In the Top 3rd, Dylan Volantis gave up a lead off single, but showed a lot of maturity and moxie in catching the runner try to go on first movement, resulting in a pick off. Volantis went right back to work and induced back to back ground balls to put up another zero on the board. The last out gave freshman C Cole Chamberlain, getting the start today in lieu of Rylan Galvan to show off the arm as he fielded a bunt hit out in front of the plate and fired a last to 1B.
In the Bottom 3rd, after back to back strikeouts, SS Jalin Flores came to the plate looking to get something going offensively and proceeded to hit a bomb to right CF for an oppo taco, making it 2-0 Horns.
In the Top 4th, Santa Clara finally pushed a run across as Ben Cleary led off with a double. Volantis got the next batter to ground out to Kimble, but there was only a play at 1B and the runner advanced to 3B. The next batter hit a grounder to Adrian Rodriguez at 3B and while he might have had a play at home, he made the safe decision to get the force out at 1B, but the run did score to make it 2-1 Longhorns. That was all offensively for the Broncos in the Top 4th as Dylan Volantis got the next batter to roll another ground ball.
In the Bottom 4th, the Longhorns threatened but could not push a run across. Kimble Schuessler led off with a bloop single to CF and then stole 2B. Unfortunately, both C Cole Chamberlain and CF Will Gasparino struck out. Kimble Schuessler did advance to 3B on a wild pitch, but DH Jaquae Stewart struck out and was not able to bring him home to keep it at 2-1 Longhorns.
After a scoreless 5th inning by both teams, Dylan Volantis came out to pitch in the Top 6th inning to the surprise of some in the press box, including myself. I thought that Coach Schlossnagle would turn to the bullpen after 5 complete, but he elected to bring Volantis out in the Top 6th to face the lefty at the plate, and of course Dylan did his job, getting a fly ball out on the first pitch.
Coach Schlossnagle was quickly out of the dugout and already applauding by the time he reached the 1B line, congratulating Volantis on an outstanding first career start. In came veteran RHP Andre Duplantier. Dre worked quickly and delivered two quick and efficient outs to keep it at 2-1 Longhorns.
In the Bottom 6th, Santa Clara finally turned to their bullpen as starter Max Bayles's day was done. 3B Adrian Rodriguez led off with a single up the middle on a 3-1 count, but was erased when 1B Kimble Schuessler hit into a double play. That brought freshman C Cole Chamberlain to the plate and as he seemingly always does, he drew a walk. CF Will Gasparino then hit a double down the RF line to put runners on 2B and 3B, still with 2 outs. DH Jaquae Stewart then drew a walk to load up the bases for Tommy Farmer IV, who was getting his first at-bat of the ball game with Easton Winfield having started in LF.
Tommy Farmer delivered, hitting a 2 run RBI single to CF to make it 4-1 Horns and create the separation that they had been searching for.
In the Top 7th, LHP Kade Bing came in to pitch for the Horns and got two quick outs, but then hit the third batter he faced on a breaking ball that went way too much inside. The next batter up then hit a single up the middle putting runners on the corners with two outs and prompting a pitching change from Coach Schlossnagle. After the game when asked about Bing's short stint, he said that he just didn't love the way the fastball was coming out of his hand today and that he wanted to get freshman LHP Bryce Navarre time in a leverage situation.
LHP Bryce Navarre inherited 2 outs and runners on the corners and on a 1-1 count was able to get a fly out to end the scoring threat to preserve the Horns 4-1 lead.
The Horns went quietly 1-2-3 in the Bottom 7th as Santa Clara relief pitcher Caden Wooster came in pumping 95mph gas and a really good breaking ball.
In the Top 8th, Bryce Navarre was back on the mound. After walking the first batter, he struck out the next batter and then got Santa Clara to hit into a double play to end the top half of the frame. Tip of the hat freshman.
In the Bottom 8th, the Horns came to bat leading 4-1 and looking to tack on a little insurance. Good news is that the checked cleared and they did exactly that. Kimble Schuessler and Will Gasparino both drew walks with a strikeout by Cole Chamberlain in between to get things started. Casey Borba, pinch hitting for Jaquae Stewart struck out, bringing Tommy Farmer to the plate with runners on 1B and 2B and 2 outs. Farmer, who continues to improve at the plate was able to draw a walk to load the bases, bringing Ethan Mendoza to the plate.
At the end of the day, it is a Doza world and we are all just living in it as he hit a 2 run RBI single up the middle to make it 6-1.
In the Top 9th, Texas turned to RHP Thomas Burns to get him an inning of work and close up shop. After walking the first batter, Burns was able to induce a double play and then induce a pop up to end the game. Game over and series swept!
BIG MOMENT
In the Bottom 6th, the Horns held a narrow 2-1 lead over the Broncos. After 5 complete, Santa Clara finally made a move to the bullpen as starter Max Bayles was at the end of his window.
With 2 outs and bases loaded, LF Tommy Farmer, came to the plate for the first time in the game after Easton Winfield got the start today. On a 1-1 count, Farmer got a pitch that caught too much of the plate and hit a liner into CF for a 2 run RBI single making it 4-1 Longhorns, creating all the separation they needed.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
Freshman LHP Dylan Volantis (2-0)
Getting his first start and making just his 4th appearance on the season, Dylan looked the part going 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
Interestingly enough, those 3K came in the same inning as he struck out the side in the Top 2nd
TAKEAWAYS
What a difference an elite coaching staff matters. Over 13.2 innings of work spread across three games this weekend, the Texas bullpen gave up a total of 4 runs. Over the course of 27 innings played this weekend, the pitching staff gave up a total of 6 runs. Obviously there are stiffer tests ahead, but regardless, that is outstanding baseball right there.
In addition, one of the things that I highlighted on my Friday morning radio spot with Mike "Hardball" Hardge and Mark Henry was that I thought the Texas defense was going to bounce back this weekend. They did indeed do that to the tune of zero (0) errors.
Overall, the Horns played very complementary baseball this weekend, pitching well, playing solid defense, and getting timely hitting despite 25+ mile winds blowing left to right for the past two days.
The Horns have now won 13 straight games, which is the longest such streak since the 2023 season (16 game win streak) and the best start to a season since 2005. I do not say that to draw comparisons between the two squads as they are vastly different, but progress has been earned through hard work and outstanding coaching, and it shows.
NEXT UP
University of Texas-Arlington ( ) comes to town on Tuesday night for the final tune up before SEC conference play starts next Friday.
Santa Clara Broncos - 1
Texas Longhorns - 6
BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Dylan Volantis (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Max Bayles (1-1)
RECAP
LHP Dylan Volantis got the nod today as the coaching staff wanted to give Dylan a start before conference play. In the Top 1st, Volantis went deep in the count on the first batter but got a fly out. He then gave up back to back seeing eye singles. No damage was done though as he got the top power hitter on the Broncos to hit a ground ball to 2B Ethan Mendoza who fielded it, stepped on 2B and threw to 1B to complete the double play.
In the Bottom 1st, the Longhorns got on the board in the first inning for the second game in a row. 2B Ethan Mendoza drew a four pitch walk, followed by a RF Max Belyeu blooper over the head of 3B for a single. Mendoza tagged and advanced to 3B when SS Jalin Flores squared up a ball, hitting it out to CF, but the wind knocked it down and it was caught. Ethan Mendoza then scored when Santa Clara's starting pitcher Max Bayles tried a pick off through that bounced away from the defender at 1B giving the Horns an early 1-0 lead.
In the Top 2nd, Dylan Volantis came back out and struck out the side, needing only 12 pitches to do so. In the Bottom 2nd, the Horns got a 2 out single by Jaquae Stewart, the first of his Longhorn career, but that was it offensively.
In the Top 3rd, Dylan Volantis gave up a lead off single, but showed a lot of maturity and moxie in catching the runner try to go on first movement, resulting in a pick off. Volantis went right back to work and induced back to back ground balls to put up another zero on the board. The last out gave freshman C Cole Chamberlain, getting the start today in lieu of Rylan Galvan to show off the arm as he fielded a bunt hit out in front of the plate and fired a last to 1B.
In the Bottom 3rd, after back to back strikeouts, SS Jalin Flores came to the plate looking to get something going offensively and proceeded to hit a bomb to right CF for an oppo taco, making it 2-0 Horns.
In the Top 4th, Santa Clara finally pushed a run across as Ben Cleary led off with a double. Volantis got the next batter to ground out to Kimble, but there was only a play at 1B and the runner advanced to 3B. The next batter hit a grounder to Adrian Rodriguez at 3B and while he might have had a play at home, he made the safe decision to get the force out at 1B, but the run did score to make it 2-1 Longhorns. That was all offensively for the Broncos in the Top 4th as Dylan Volantis got the next batter to roll another ground ball.
In the Bottom 4th, the Longhorns threatened but could not push a run across. Kimble Schuessler led off with a bloop single to CF and then stole 2B. Unfortunately, both C Cole Chamberlain and CF Will Gasparino struck out. Kimble Schuessler did advance to 3B on a wild pitch, but DH Jaquae Stewart struck out and was not able to bring him home to keep it at 2-1 Longhorns.
After a scoreless 5th inning by both teams, Dylan Volantis came out to pitch in the Top 6th inning to the surprise of some in the press box, including myself. I thought that Coach Schlossnagle would turn to the bullpen after 5 complete, but he elected to bring Volantis out in the Top 6th to face the lefty at the plate, and of course Dylan did his job, getting a fly ball out on the first pitch.
Coach Schlossnagle was quickly out of the dugout and already applauding by the time he reached the 1B line, congratulating Volantis on an outstanding first career start. In came veteran RHP Andre Duplantier. Dre worked quickly and delivered two quick and efficient outs to keep it at 2-1 Longhorns.
In the Bottom 6th, Santa Clara finally turned to their bullpen as starter Max Bayles's day was done. 3B Adrian Rodriguez led off with a single up the middle on a 3-1 count, but was erased when 1B Kimble Schuessler hit into a double play. That brought freshman C Cole Chamberlain to the plate and as he seemingly always does, he drew a walk. CF Will Gasparino then hit a double down the RF line to put runners on 2B and 3B, still with 2 outs. DH Jaquae Stewart then drew a walk to load up the bases for Tommy Farmer IV, who was getting his first at-bat of the ball game with Easton Winfield having started in LF.
Tommy Farmer delivered, hitting a 2 run RBI single to CF to make it 4-1 Horns and create the separation that they had been searching for.
In the Top 7th, LHP Kade Bing came in to pitch for the Horns and got two quick outs, but then hit the third batter he faced on a breaking ball that went way too much inside. The next batter up then hit a single up the middle putting runners on the corners with two outs and prompting a pitching change from Coach Schlossnagle. After the game when asked about Bing's short stint, he said that he just didn't love the way the fastball was coming out of his hand today and that he wanted to get freshman LHP Bryce Navarre time in a leverage situation.
LHP Bryce Navarre inherited 2 outs and runners on the corners and on a 1-1 count was able to get a fly out to end the scoring threat to preserve the Horns 4-1 lead.
The Horns went quietly 1-2-3 in the Bottom 7th as Santa Clara relief pitcher Caden Wooster came in pumping 95mph gas and a really good breaking ball.
In the Top 8th, Bryce Navarre was back on the mound. After walking the first batter, he struck out the next batter and then got Santa Clara to hit into a double play to end the top half of the frame. Tip of the hat freshman.
In the Bottom 8th, the Horns came to bat leading 4-1 and looking to tack on a little insurance. Good news is that the checked cleared and they did exactly that. Kimble Schuessler and Will Gasparino both drew walks with a strikeout by Cole Chamberlain in between to get things started. Casey Borba, pinch hitting for Jaquae Stewart struck out, bringing Tommy Farmer to the plate with runners on 1B and 2B and 2 outs. Farmer, who continues to improve at the plate was able to draw a walk to load the bases, bringing Ethan Mendoza to the plate.
At the end of the day, it is a Doza world and we are all just living in it as he hit a 2 run RBI single up the middle to make it 6-1.
In the Top 9th, Texas turned to RHP Thomas Burns to get him an inning of work and close up shop. After walking the first batter, Burns was able to induce a double play and then induce a pop up to end the game. Game over and series swept!
BIG MOMENT
In the Bottom 6th, the Horns held a narrow 2-1 lead over the Broncos. After 5 complete, Santa Clara finally made a move to the bullpen as starter Max Bayles was at the end of his window.
With 2 outs and bases loaded, LF Tommy Farmer, came to the plate for the first time in the game after Easton Winfield got the start today. On a 1-1 count, Farmer got a pitch that caught too much of the plate and hit a liner into CF for a 2 run RBI single making it 4-1 Longhorns, creating all the separation they needed.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
Freshman LHP Dylan Volantis (2-0)
Getting his first start and making just his 4th appearance on the season, Dylan looked the part going 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
Interestingly enough, those 3K came in the same inning as he struck out the side in the Top 2nd
TAKEAWAYS
What a difference an elite coaching staff matters. Over 13.2 innings of work spread across three games this weekend, the Texas bullpen gave up a total of 4 runs. Over the course of 27 innings played this weekend, the pitching staff gave up a total of 6 runs. Obviously there are stiffer tests ahead, but regardless, that is outstanding baseball right there.
In addition, one of the things that I highlighted on my Friday morning radio spot with Mike "Hardball" Hardge and Mark Henry was that I thought the Texas defense was going to bounce back this weekend. They did indeed do that to the tune of zero (0) errors.
Overall, the Horns played very complementary baseball this weekend, pitching well, playing solid defense, and getting timely hitting despite 25+ mile winds blowing left to right for the past two days.
The Horns have now won 13 straight games, which is the longest such streak since the 2023 season (16 game win streak) and the best start to a season since 2005. I do not say that to draw comparisons between the two squads as they are vastly different, but progress has been earned through hard work and outstanding coaching, and it shows.
NEXT UP
University of Texas-Arlington ( ) comes to town on Tuesday night for the final tune up before SEC conference play starts next Friday.
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