Texas Baseball Cruises Past Oregon, Moves One Win Away From Omaha

The winning formula for Texas baseball against Oregon in the opening game of the Austin Super Regional seemed relatively simple: perform on the mound, create traffic on the bases and control the game. If the Longhorns could avoid a slow start and Dylan Volantis kept sharp, they could trust the Ducks' aggressive approach at the plate would eventually work against them.

Well, Texas did that. More or less.

Volantis turned in one of the more unusual starts of his season, setting a career high in wild pitches while walking four and allowing eight hits. But he also struck out 10 batters and stranded 10 Oregon runners through 5 1/3 innings.

That proved to be more than enough for the Longhorns to take advantage of an Oregon pitching staff that simply could not stop handing out free passes.

Texas effectively outlasted the Ducks on Saturday night, scoring 11 runs on just eight hits to claim Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional and move one win away from its first College World Series berth since 2022.

“I think both teams had one opportunity, and the difference in the game was we got some pitches up and put some balls in play to score runners with third base and less than two outs, and they didn’t,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “You can give credit to Dylan mainly for that, making pitches when he had to make them.”

Texas Delivers While Oregon Repeatedly Comes Up Empty

Texas baseball — Texas sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez steals third base in the seventh inning against the UTSA Roadrunners. | Rylan Renteria, The Paisano

While Volantis did not have his sharpest outing of the season, he delivered when it mattered most.

Oregon put runners on base in every inning Volantis pitched and stranded 10 runners through the first five frames. The sophomore left-hander battled command issues, uncorked a career-high number of wild pitches and frequently worked in and out of trouble. Yet time and time again, he escaped.

The Ducks threatened in the first inning, putting runners on the corners before Volantis struck out Brayden Jaksa to escape the jam. It was not the last time Oregon would leave runners in scoring position, as the Ducks finished the night 0-for-14 with RISP.

And despite giving Volantis trouble, Oregon repeatedly came away empty-handed.

Texas could not say the same.

The Longhorns got things going in the first inning, when Adrian Rodriguez ripped a two-run double into the left-center gap to score both Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr. to give the Longhorns an early lead. One inning later, Casey Borba launched an opposite-field home run — his 18th of the year — before Dariyan Pendergrass scored on a Robbins sacrifice fly after drawing a walk and stealing two bases.

And while Texas took advantage of every scoring opportunity, Oregon continuously left the door open.

With the bases loaded and one out in the third inning, Volantis once again slammed the door on Oregon's scoring chance by striking out Jaksa and inducing a groundout to end the inning. In the fourth, Oregon put runners on second and third with nobody out before Volantis struck out the next two batters and recorded another groundout to complete the escape act.

After Volantis exited in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, Thomas Burns struck out his first batter before issuing back-to-back two-out walks that cut the Texas lead to 8-2. But Luke Harrison, an expected Game 2 starter, entered and struck out Blake Mabeus to strand the bases loaded.

"Super cool to see Luke Harrison come into that situation and just do the job,” Volantis said. “He's the most trustworthy guy you could ask for; whatever you ask of him, he's going to do it.”

In the bottom half of the inning, Rodriguez delivered another RBI on a sacrifice fly before Ethan Mendoza launched a two-run homer to left-center field. Rodriguez finished the night with a career-high five RBI.

Harrison worked another scoreless inning before Brody Walls closed out the final two frames, allowing just one run on a solo homer in the eighth.

The Longhorns and Ducks will meet again Sunday night, with Texas now just one win away from its first Men's College World Series berth since 2022.

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