Ruger Riojas is expected to throw the first pitch of the Texas baseball season Friday night against UC Davis.
Longhorns coach Jim Schlossnagle tabbed the senior to lead the UT rotation during a Wednesday afternoon media session. Fifth-year lefty Luke Harrison will throw Saturday before turning things over to fellow southpaw Dylan Volantis — last season's SEC freshman of the year — on Sunday.
Texas Longhorns infielder Josh Kivingston (15) slides to third during the annual Texas Longhorns Alumni Baseball Game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)Of those three, Riojas produced the least impressive numbers overall. But his 5.61 ERA was heavily impacted by a disastrous three-week stretch when Riojas attempted to pitch through an illness that saw him lose between 15 and 20 pounds. The Wimberley native allowed just 10 earned runs across 30 innings of work in his first seven SEC outings.
Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) throws a pitch during the NCAA D1 Baseball Tournament Regional against UTSA at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday, May 31, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman)"It's just a numbers game," Schlossnagle said when asked about the way he aligned his three starters. "There's no underlying reason why one would pitch on Friday and one would pitch on Sunday."
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Harrison served as Texas' Saturday starter for most of the 2025 season, pitching to a 3.06 ERA. Volantis, pitching mostly out of the bullpen, accumulated a sparkling 1.94 ERA and struck out 74 batters in 51 innings of work during his true freshman season.
Some predicted he would earn the Friday might nod. But Schlossnagle pointed out that Volantis couldn't participate in Texas' fall practice as he recovered from a long-term injury. Now, he's working on a changeup to pair with his sinking fastball and slider to give him a third pitch as he prepares to eat up more innings.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I think he's had three or four intersquad opportunities, and each one continues to get a little bit better than the last one," Schlossnagle said.
Schlossnagle also tabbed sophomore righty Jason Flores and freshman righthander Sam Cozart as two other arms who will get early opportunities to start games.
Texas baseball pitching rotation vs UC Davis
Friday: Ruger Riojas
Saturday: Luke Harrison
Sunday: Dylan Volantis
