The Horns land a 43-steal catalyst with speed, defense, and chaos for the bottom of the order.
Texas baseball just injected pure pace into its 2026 roster.
The Longhorns have added College of Charleston outfielder Dariyan Pendergrass, a redshirt senior whose game is built around the simple truth that pressure changes everything.
When you can take an extra base whenever you feel like it, defenses don't just defend; they panic.
Pendergrass arrives in Austin with one of the loudest speed reputations in the country. Last season for Charleston, he started all 59 games in center field and swiped 43 bases, becoming just the third player in program history to hit the 40-steal mark in a single season.
On top of that, he wasn't a one-trick pony.
He hit .296 with four homers and 37 RBI, while also pacing the Cougars in runs scored (65) and showing the kind of table-setting profile that plays in any lineup.
The national context checks out, too. His 43 steals ranked eighth nationally.
For Texas, the fit is obvious. Speed that can tilt innings without a single ball leaving the infield. Even if Pendergrass isn't penciled in as an everyday starter over established outfield options, he gives the Longhorns a weapon they can deploy in multiple ways with late-inning pinch-run chaos, defensive coverage in the outfield, and a lineup look that forces opponents to speed up their internal clock.
His path to this point is the kind of grind coaches love.
Before Charleston, Pendergrass spent two seasons at Spartanburg Methodist, where he was an instant spark plug and a constant problem on the bases. He carried that edge into Division I and flashed it immediately, even in a shortened first year at Charleston.
In 2024, he played 28 games before suffering a season-ending injury, yet still managed to hit .300 while stealing 10 bases.
Then in 2025, fully healthy, he turned the volume all the way up ... more games, more at-bats, more stolen bases, more impact, every night. And the industry sees it the same way Texas does.
D1 Baseball's Joe Healy summed up the scouting note in one line.
"Speed never slumps," and Pendergrass has plenty of it. That’s not just a clever phrase; it's roster logic. Slumps happen. Timing drifts. But a runner who can manufacture scoring position changes the math of an inning even when he isn't "raking."
For the Longhorns, this is a classic winning program add in a veteran with a defined elite trait, a clear role, and the ability to swing a weekend series with one well-timed steal.
In a sport where one run decides plenty of games, Texas didn't just add an outfielder ... they added a problem opponents have to plan for the second he reaches first base.