What Went Wrong For Texas Against Georgia In College World Series Opener

The Texas Longhorns, or living up to their moniker as “The University of Texas at Omaha,” owing to its 39 appearances in the College World Series, have fallen on hard times in their recent opening games in the final tournament.

Texas has not won an Omaha first-round game since its 2009 appearance, losing its last six and falling to the losers' bracket, playing an extra game.

Against the Georgia Bulldogs, much was not going the Longhorns' way, and behind the performance of pitcher Joey Volchko, nothing that Texas could do was effective.

Once Booming Offense Falls Silent

Heading into the College World Series, the Texas offense was at the peak of its powers, dominating its regional and super regional opponents by a run differential of 58-15 across five games.

Everything that was going right for the Longhorns in the first two rounds of the postseason was going right. But against Georgia, its first real pitching test since the Tennessee series almost a month ago, everything came crumbling down.

Volchko tossed a nine-inning, complete game against the Longhorns, completely shutting down any inkling of offensive fury they had coming into the game. The Georgia ace had a field day on the mound, setting his career high in strikeouts with 15.

The Longhorns' batters really did not give him much resistance on the mound — Volchko was easily able to retire batters very efficiently, ending his night off with 114 pitches thrown. Comparing Texas ace, Dylan Volantis, who was retired after 6.1 innings, and 111 pitches thrown for one of his deepest starts of the season.

Texas did manage to fire off four hits against Volchko, but just two runners were able to make it into scoring position, causing little pressure on him during the course of the night. Only Ethan Mendoza and Adrian Rodriguez managed to find success, both firing two hits apiece and driving in the only run for Texas.

It took until the ninth inning for Volchko to really find some trouble, walking his first batter of the night. He would quickly close out the game with strikeout No. 14 and 15 to cap off the Bulldogs' 7-1 victory over the Longhorns.

Texas’ top-of-the-order SEC Newcomer of the Year, Aiden Robbins, SEC Freshman of the Year, Anthony Pack Jr., and Carson Tinney fell short of the prowess at the plate set during the first two rounds.

The trio of Longhorns hitters went a combined 0-11 at the plate and struck out seven times during Volchko’s historic day in Omaha.

With the one loss on the record, another one would eliminate them from the field. The Longhorns now face the daunting task of playing for their season, beginning with an elimination game against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday.

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