5 things to know about Texas pitcher Tanner Witt, including his brief volleyball career

After falling to Stanford 8-3 on Sunday, Texas will attempt to win a spot in the College World Series on Monday at 7 p.m. CT.

The Longhorns' Tanner Witt has been tabbed as the Game 3 starter. He will be hoping to stop a Stanford lineup that has done serious damage to Texas' starting pitchers. They scored three runs off of ace Lucas Gordon in Game 1 and four runs off of Lebarron Johnson Jr. on Sunday. It'll be Witt's sixth appearance since returning from injury.

Here are five things to know about the right hander.

1. Top tier

Throughout his time at Episcopal High School in Houston, it was clear Witt was special. Already hitting the mid-90s with his fast ball, teams in the 2020 MLB Draft had him as a late first round target. Even so, Witt made it clear that he was going to play in college.

In his first year at Texas, Witt threw 57 innings, won five games and recorded a 3.16 ERA as a reliever. It was a good start, but 2022 was the year that he was supposed to solidify himself as one of the top pitchers in college baseball. At first, it seemed like he would do just that, as he won the first two games he started with a 1.64 ERA.

Then, things changed.

2. Tommy John

Texas lost Witt in March of 2022 thanks to an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) that required the infamous Tommy John surgery. He missed the rest of the season and much of 2023 recovering and rehabbing from the surgery.

428 days later, he was able to make his return to the mound. However, things didn't go well, as though Witt was scheduled to only pitch one inning, he was unable to complete it. He allowed two hits, one walk, hit a batter and was tagged for three runs.

3. Finding his footing

It has been a rocky 2023 for Witt. He hasn't gone over three innings in any of his appearances, has walked seven batters in 9.2 innings pitched and has hit four batters.

His best appearance so far was vs. West Virginia. Witt pitched three shutout innings, only giving up one hit and striking out three.

The righty's most recent appearance vs. Miami did not go nearly as well, though. He walked one batter, hit two more and gave up a three-run home run in two innings of work.

4. Plenty of Witt

Witt has four siblings: Preston, Skyler, Culler and Ripken. They're an athletic family, with Culler and Preston both participating in sports, while their father Kevin was a first round pick in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft and played for the Blue Jays, Padres, Tigers and Rays

5. Volleyball?

Plenty of athletes play more than one sports. However, few choose volleyball as their sport of choice, especially considering the scarcity of men's high school teams.

Witt was an outside hitter with some serious bounce. His highlights are still up on Hudl, and they showcase exactly the kind of elite athlete that he was in high school.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 5 things to know about Texas pitcher Tanner Witt