The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Baseball's Volantis, Schlossnagle headline SEC honors
05.19.2025 | Baseball
The Longhorns are the lone club with a pair of major award winners.
AUSTIN, Texas — Six Texas Longhorns collected Southeastern Conference honors, as the league announced its postseason awards for the 2025 baseball season on Monday afternoon. Left-hander Dylan Volantis and head coach Jim Schlossnagle both earned major awards, as Volantis was named SEC Freshman of the Year and Schlossnagle was tabbed SEC Coach of the Year.
Volantis was joined on the All-SEC First Team by catcher Rylan Galvan. Meanwhile, Galvan, first baseman Kimble Schuessler, second baseman Ethan Mendoza and outfielder Will Gasparino all garnered spots on the SEC All-Defensive Team. The awards are voted on by the league's 16 head coaches.
A 6-foot-6, 212-pound hurler, Volantis became just the fourth Longhorn to receive conference freshman of the year distinction, joining Chance Ruffin (2008), Erich Weiss (2011) and Parker French (2012). The Thousand Oaks, Calif., native paced all pitchers (min. 25 inn.) in ERA (1.59), WHIP (0.85), B/AVG (.160) and saves (11) in SEC play. Volantis' 11 saves in conference action are the most by an SEC freshman ever, breaking a 22-year-old record held by Ole Miss' Steven Head. Overall, the rookie notched a 4-0 mark and a 1.66 ERA across 43 1/3 innings, registering 11 walks and 64 strikeouts. As of May 19, Volantis is tied for sixth nationally in saves (12).
Schlossnagle is the third coach in program history to earn conference coach of the year honors, joining Cliff Gustafson and Augie Garrido. For the first-year Texas skipper, this marks his ninth conference coach of the year distinction, including his first in the SEC. Under Schlossnagle, the Longhorns became the first team to win the SEC in their first season since the league's inaugural campaign in 1933. Texas, which was picked eighth in the conference's preseason poll, won the league by two games.
During the regular season, the Longhorns posted a 42-11 ledger, which marks its best record in 15 years. Schlossnagle's club spent three weeks as the unanimous No. 1 squad, notching a nation's best 17 wins in Quad 1 contests.
One of the best backstops at the Division I level, Galvan collected conference recognition for the second consecutive campaign after being named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention a year ago. The junior leads the Longhorns in five offensive categories, highlighted by his 14 home runs and 1.088 OPS. Galvan's 14 homers are the most by a Texas catcher in a season since Chris Abbe in 1992. The 6-foot, 215-pound slugger is batting .299 and has driven in 46 runs, while drawing a team-best 43 walks.
The Longhorns are the first team to land a quartet of selections on the All-Defensive Team since LSU a decade ago. As a club, Texas has tallied a .980 fielding percentage which ranks 12th nationally.
The complete list of SEC postseason awards and all-conference teams can be seen HERE.
