Texas Crashes Hard In College World Series Opener

Texas baseball didn’t ease into the College World Series.

The Longhorns walked straight into a first-inning nightmare and never escaped it.

READ MORE: Texas Baseball Falls Into Losers Bracket After Sloppy MCWS Opener

Georgia hammered Texas 7-1 on Saturday at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, sending the Longhorns into the loser’s bracket after a brutal opening frame, a dominant Joey Volchko masterpiece and a Bulldogs offense that wasted no time throwing punches.

The tone was set immediately.

Volchko struck out the side in the top of the first, then Georgia’s lineup jumped Texas ace Dylan Volantis before the Longhorns could settle in.

Tre Phelps opened the bottom half with a walk, and Rylan Lujo followed with a blast that was initially ruled a triple before replay confirmed it hit the foul pole. Just like that, Georgia had a 2-0 lead.

Then things got ugly.

Texas catcher Carson Tinney, a Buster Posey Award finalist and usually one of the most reliable defenders in the country, had a rare collapse behind the plate.

After Volantis struck out Michael O’Shaughnessy, Tinney dropped the ball and made a throwing error.

Later in the inning, another strikeout turned chaotic when a wild pitch and another Tinney throwing mistake helped Georgia push the lead to 4-0.

For Texas, it was the kind of inning that changes an entire postseason path.

Volantis eventually recovered and gave the Longhorns innings, striking out eight and working a clean sixth, but the damage had already been done.

He also hit four batters, an alarming number considering he had hit only seven all season entering the game. His night ended after 110 pitches and seven runs allowed.

Meanwhile, Volchko was ruthless.

The Georgia right-hander threw a complete game on 113 pitches, allowing just one run while piling up 15 strikeouts. Texas had no real answer for his power, command or rhythm.

The Longhorns finally scored in the fifth when Adrian Rodriquez singled, advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt and came home on an Ethan Mendoza bloop single to right.

Mendoza finished with two hits, but Texas never built real pressure.

Georgia added three more runs in the seventh, with Lujo again delivering a big swing on a double to left that scored Phelps.

READ MORE: Texas Lands 2027 4-Star Edge in Another Longhorns' Defensive Win

Now the Bulldogs move into the winner’s bracket to face Oklahoma, while Texas gets Alabama in an elimination game Monday at 1 p.m. CT.

The Longhorns came to Omaha chasing a title. Now they’re already fighting to survive.

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