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AUSTIN, TX - JUNE 06: Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) reacts after a strikeout during the NCAA Super Regional college baseball game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oregon Ducks on June 6, 2026 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, TX.(Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As one of the four top-eight seeds in the College World Series, the No. 6 Texas Longhorns face the most difficult opening matchup in Omaha on Saturday against the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, the highest-seeded team remaining in the field.
To advance out of Bracket 2, which includes two other SEC standouts in Oklahoma and No. 7 Alabama, Texas will almost certainly have to win the opening game to avoid four straight elimination contests, sharpening the spotlight on sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis (10-1, 2.03 ERA), Saturday’s starter against Georgia, which leads the nation in home runs with 174 and blasted nine out of Foley Field in the Athens Super Regional in two wins against Mississippi State.
The 107 home runs hit by Ole Miss are the second most in the CWS Field, but 67 behind Georgia.
At 315 feet down the right-field line, Foley Field is regarded as a much more hitter-friendly ballpark than Charles Schwab Field, which is 21 feet deeper down that line and 10 feet deeper in the alley in right center, but an unseasonable north wind forecast to blow out to right at 15 miles per hour at the start of Saturday’s matchup could favor the Diamond Dogs and make Charles Schwab Field play much smaller than it often does in June.
Georgia’s breakout star Daniel Jackson, the catcher whose 31 home runs pace college baseball, enters the College World Series with four home runs in five postseason games and has opposite-field power when pitchers try to work away against his violent right-handed swing with elite bat speed.
The weather conditions will also favor the left-handed power hitters in Georgia’s lineup — Brennan Hudson (21) and Michael O’Shaughnessey (20).
“They have a great team. They do an awesome job of signing super physical players, experienced players, especially in the portal, and Wes [Johnson] and his staff do an incredible job of coaching the hitters, and they have a definite style of play,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
From Georgia head coach Wes Johnson’s perspective, the instructions to his hitters aren’t complicated.
“We just teach our guys, we want you to try to hit the ball hard,” Johnson said.
For Texas redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison, the focus remains where it always is for pitchers on Max Weiner’s staff — on throwing strike one.
“Our pitching staff, we’ve got plenty good enough stuff to get those guys out, and it’s just a matter of going out and executing pitches,” Harrison said on Thursday.
But executing pitches well won’t necessarily avoid the inevitability of the Dawgs hitting the ball out of the park.
“I think the key is, more than likely they’re going to hit some homers. The question is, how many guys are on base? If you get caught up in being afraid to throw the ball in the strike zone, then there’s going to be too many ducks on the pond — or Dawgs on the pond — and those homers really stretch the lead,” Schlossnagle said.
The stats suggest that Volantis is well suited to the task he’s facing on Saturday — the lanky Californian is 14th nationally with a 1.02 WHIP and only two home runs allowed over 88.2 innings this season. Given up to South Carolina and Missouri, both home runs were solo shots and the only run conceded by Volantis in each of those outings.
“I think if Dylan executes his pitches more often than not, then the chances are in our favor,” Schlossnagle said.
Similar to the regional and super regional, Schlossnagle will have virtually every pitcher available on Saturday, including Harrison, who closed the Austin Regional with a save against UC Santa Barbara in addition to getting four outs out of the bullpen in the Austin Super Regional opener.
“We have to win these games one at a time, and for the most part, anybody and everybody’s available to pitch to try and stay out of the loser’s bracket,” Schlossnagle said.
The bullpen remains without senior right-hander Max Grubbs following his season-ending surgery last month, but junior left-hander Haiden Leffew is “in a good spot” after battling an undisclosed issue that contributed to the Wake Forest transfer walking both batters he faced against UCSB in the Austin Regional final as the Gauchos mounted a six-inning rally to take the lead.
Freshman right-hander Brett Crossland also pitched well this week, according to Schlossnagle, after contributing to those sixth-inning woes by allowing a hit to the only batter he faced, which marked the lone postseason appearance so far for the 6’5, 255-pounder.
“We’re in a really good spot. I think a few guys were just a little sore,” Schlossnagle said.
Consistently focused on the mental side of baseball, the Longhorns head coach wants to keep it simple in Omaha by emphasizing pitching, defense, and timely hitting.
“We can’t get caught up in anything other than that. It’s just throwing strikes and playing good catch,” Schlossnagle said.
Even with the wind blowing out to right at Charles Schwab Park, outfield defense will still be at a premium for the Horns in the big ballpark with Schlossnagle happy to have redshirt senior Dariyan Pendergrass available in center field because of his range and how much better junior Aiden Robbins has played since moving to right field.
For the infielders, adjusting to playing on a natural surface in Omaha is complicated by the lack of practice time in cleats to help the grounds crew maintain the playability at CSP.
On Friday, the Longhorns will take some ground balls on another grass and dirt infield in the Omaha area to prepare for Saturday’s opener, similar to how they prepare for road trips during the season.
Georgia will send right-hander Joey Volchko (13-2, 4.00 ERA) to the mound against Texas. The 6’4, 225-pounder is a Stanford transfer who made significant strides since departing Palo Alto for Athens last summer.
“Stuff, health, recovery, mental gain, everything’s improved, right?” Johnson said earlier this week.
Throw strikeout rate in there, too. After punching out 56 batters in 70.1 innings last year, Volchko bolstered his strikeouts to 104 in 86.1 innings. In the more powerful SEC, Volchko has given up more home runs, up from four to eight this year, and they’ve tended to come in bunches, including three allowed to LSU when he gave up seven runs in 3.1 innings and two to Mississippi State in the Athens Super Regional as the Bulldogs scored seven runs (four earned) against Volchko over 5.0 innings.
But Johnson came away from Volchko’s last outing impressed with his pitcher’s ability to battle.
“You look at Joey’s start against Mississippi State, that’s what really good big leaguers do. They kind of get hit in the mouth with some adversity and some things happen, but yet they’re still able to grind you out five innings and save your bullpen, keep you in the game and not give up any more. Those kind of outings go so under the radar,” Johnson said.
It’s the type of performance that the Longhorns are capable of replicating with the type of the lineup hot heading into Omaha with Robbins matching the five home runs by Jackson in the postseason, junior catcher Carson Tinney going 10-for-20 with nine runs scored, a 7-for-16 (.438) effort from freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. with six walks, four home runs, and nine runs scored, and sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez bolstering his average from .277 to .306 by going 11-for-19 (.579) with five doubles, six runs scored, and nine RBI.
Through five postseason games, the Longhorns have hit 16 home runs, an impressive number that nonetheless pales in comparison to the 25 bombs launched by the Diamond Dogs.
“Oh, by the way, we can hit some homers, too, and we don’t hit maybe as many as them, but we’ll hit our share, so should be a great ball game and super entertaining,” Schlossnagle said.
Of course, Schlossnagle also puts any emphasis on “win any way,” so he’s prepared his team to score in different ways.
“I think our goal is to be able to play any brand of baseball, regardless of the conditions,” Schlossnagle said.
With Georgia on an eight-game winning streak after winning the SEC Tournament in addition to all five postseason games, the Bulldogs are the arguably hottest team in the country and just behind the Tar Heels as the betting favorite to win the College World Series, according to FanDuel.
“They’re certainly on a heater, but it’s never about the best team, it’s only about the team that plays the best,” Schlossnagle said.
First pitch on Saturday is at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN.
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