OTF Premium Texas one win away from Omaha after opening Austin Super Regional with 11-3 rout of Oregon

[Jeff Howe]

AUSTIN, Texas — With five of their eight hits going for extra bases, including home runs by Casey Borba and Ethan Mendoza, and Dylan Volantis putting up five shutout innings before his sixth-inning exit, Texas took another step toward a trip to Omaha with an 11-3 rout of Oregon in the first game of the Austin Super Regional on Saturday.

If the Longhorns win the second game of the Super Regional on Sunday (8 p.m., ESPN), they'd punch their ticket the College World Series for an NCAA-record 39th time.

A crowd of 8,550 fans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field and a national audience on ESPN watched Texas (44-13) battle through a three-hour, 53-minute affair that was downright sloppy at times. The two clubs combined to walk 17 batters and hit five more, with four combined runs scored on walks, hit batters or balks with the bases loaded.

When push came to shove, however, Volantis (5.1 innings, eight hits, two earned runs, four walks, 10 strikeouts, four wild pitches and one hit batter on a career-high 110 pitches) and the three other pitchers Jim Schlossnagle and Max Weiner used held the Ducks to an 0-for-14 night hitting with runners in scoring position. Oregon (43-17) only pushed two runs across after having the bases loaded with one out in the top of the third, runners in scoring position with no outs in the fourth and the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth.

Those two runs came home in the sixth, when Thomas Burns issued back-to-back walks in relief of Volantis. Luke Harrison, who has been in the starting rotation all season and appeared in two games in the Austin Regional (he started the team’s 19-1 win over Holy Cross last Friday and recorded the last out in a 6-4 victory over UC Santa Barbara last Sunday), struck out catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus to get the Longhorns out of the seventh.

Harrison struck out two and walked two in 1.1 hitless innings (27 total pitches) out of the bullpen.

The Ducks outhit the Longhorns, 9-8, but Texas made its hits count. The Longhorns jumped out to a 7-0 lead through five thanks to Adrian Rodriguez’s two-run double in the first inning, Borba’s solo homer (his 18th of the season and the 34th of his career, moving him into a tie with Kody Clemens for the sixth-most home runs in program history) and a sacrifice fly to right field by Aiden Robbins in the bottom of the second and an RBI single by Rodriguez highlighting a two-run fifth.

After Oregon cut into the deficit with two runs in the top of the sixth, Texas got those runs back and then some in the home half.

Anthony Pack Jr. and Temo Becerra moved into scoring position for Rodriguez, whose sacrifice fly to center field brought Pack home, a part of the sophomore shortstop’s 2-for-3 night at the plate with a career-high five RBI. With Becerra on third and one out, Mendoza obliterated a 1-0 pitch from right-handed relief pitcher Collin Clarke, crushing a 438-foot home run to left field.

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[Jeff Howe]

I'm in the Texas clubhouse, ready for the postgame press conference to start.

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski congratulated Texas and Schloss for the win before saying it was "a sloppy game, probably on both sides."

[Jeff Howe]

Wasikowski: "I thought we kind of shot ourselves in the foot tonight and that's why we came out on the short end of it tonight."

[Jeff Howe]

Wasikowski didn't think Dylan Volantis was sharp tonight, but credited him for gutting it out and making his pitches when he needed to. He said Volantis has one of the best breaking balls in the country.

[Jeff Howe]

Jax Gimenez said Oregon just didn't execute on offense. The Ducks were 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

[Jeff Howe]

Maddox Molony said "the moment got too big" for Oregon at times. The Ducks set the table, but they didn't get the key hit they needed to break through.

[Jeff Howe]

Wasikowski wasn't surprised that Harrison came out of the bullpen.

"Jim is going to do everything he has to do to win the game," he said. "He's going to play his best cards possible."

[Jeff Howe]

Wasikowski said Cal Scolari didn't keep his composure, but he felt the offense could've done a better job of picking him up.

Oregon stranded 17 runners on base. "That's really hard to do," Wasikowski said.

[Jeff Howe]

The Oregon press conference is done.

We're waiting for Schloss, A-Rod and Volantis.

[TTown]

Looks like a collision course with Georgia in Omaha in the first round. Assuming both teams don't drop 2 in a row. And how about that phony #4 seed Auburn ? Gotta love it🤟

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

2 minutes ago, TTown said:

Looks like a collision course with Georgia in Omaha in the first round. Assuming both teams don't drop 2 in a row. And how about that phony #4 seed Auburn ? Gotta love it🤟

Georgia (3), North Carolina (5), Texas (6) and Alabama (7) are the highest seeds left in the field.

[AusMOJO]

Team is firing on all cylinders at the right team. Just need to close it out now. 

[Jeff Howe]

Schloss said Ruger Riojas will start tomorrow's game.

He said Harrison could come back on Monday or, if possible, he could go tomorrow if Texas has a chance to win the game and needs him.

[Jeff Howe]

Schloss said the humidity played a factor in the game. A slick ball could be responsible for some of the control issues on both sides, he said.

[Jerky]

This was expected by many with DV pitching.

Loved seeing Oregon strand so many base runners. Our hitting was much more timely. 

Tomorrow is closer to a pick'em. If RR is healthy and dealing, I like our chances to win at home. 

[Jeff Howe]

Schloss said the difference in the game was that Texas got key hits with runners on third and less than two outs and Oregon didn't.

"You credit Dylan for that," he said.

[Jeff Howe]

Volantis was going crazy in the dugout when Harrison came in in the sixth.

"He's the most trustworthy guy ever," Volantis said of Harrison.

[Jeff Howe]

A-Rod said the struggles with his hand have forced him to mature. He's had to cut down on the amount of time he's in the cage and he's changed some things mechanically that have helped him.