AUSTIN – The Oregon Ducks will face a Texas team in this weekend’s Austin Super Regional that has discovered additional motivation to win a seventh national baseball title.
The Longhorns softball team secured its second consecutive national title on Thursday by sweeping Texas Tech in the Women’s College World Series, providing inspiration for the Texas baseball team.
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“What they’ve done the last two years, obviously, is incredible and continues to set the tone and raise the standard, or at least meet the standard at the University of Texas,” Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “So, hope we can keep up. But excited to have Oregon here. Looking forward to a great weekend of baseball.”
Freshman outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. and sophomore pitcher Dylan Volantis both said the softball team’s success has motivated them.
“It’s super cool just knowing most of them, seeing them on TV, doing what they do,” Volantis said. “It kind of just makes you want (to win) it more.”
No. 11-seeded Oregon (43-16), which swept last weekend’s Eugene Regional, enters the weekend confident it has the talent to derail the No. 6 Longhorns (42-13) by winning the three-game series, which begins Saturday.
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“We’re excited to not only be here, but we’re excited to compete and we’re confident in our ball club,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We’re playing really well.”
To win Saturday’s Game 1 at 5 p.m., Oregon must do something that very few teams have done this season: get to the 6-foot-6 Volantis (9-1, 1.94 ERA), projected to be a first-round pick in the 2027 MLB draft.
The Longhorns are 13-2 this season when Volantis starts. His only defeat came against Tennessee 5-1 when he gave up three earned runs in five innings.
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Wasikowski praised Volantis’ arm strength, size, and ability to throw four pitches. He said Volantis’ breaking pitches already compare to average to above-average at the Major League Level, making them exceptional for the college level.
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“We’re going to need to really be at our best to have a chance to be able to break him down for sure,” Wasikowski said.
Oregon will counter with redshirt sophomore Cal Scolari (5-0, 2.70 ERA).
He will have his hands full with Texas’ lineup, which produced 99 home runs this season, more than any team in the Big Ten other than Oregon’s 104.
“They have a lot of guys with 20-plus homers,” Scolari said. “You don’t stumble upon that all the time on the West Coast. So, I think that’s something that definitely jumped off the page for me. But in terms of my plan, it doesn’t really change how I go about my business.”
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. . .
Oregon Ducks (42-16) at Texas Longhorns (43-13)
When: 5 p.m., Saturday.
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Austin, Texas.
Capacity: 7,211.
TV channel: ESPN
Radio: 105.1 FM The Fan; 1080 AM The Fan (KFXX); Oregon Sports Network
How to watch live stream online: ESPN
Starting pitchers:
RHP Cal Scolari (5-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. LHP Dylan Volantis (9-1, 1.95)
Oregon’s probable lineup
Oregon Ducks baseball
1. Ryan Cooney, 2B (.335)
2. Angel Laya, RF (.307)
3. Drew Smith, 3B (.332)
4. Brayden Jaksa, 1B (.320)
5. Burke-Lee Mabeus, C (.295)
6. Naulivou Lauaki, DH (.320)
7. Maddox Molony, SS (.231)
8. Jax Gimenez, LF (.281)
9. Jack Brooks, CF (.244)
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Texas’ probable lineup
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1. Aiden Robbins, CF .358
2. Carson Tinney, C .347
3. Anthony Pack Jr., LF .358
4. Temo Becerra, 2B .316
5.Adrian Rodriguez, SS .298
6. Ethan Mendoza, DH .270
7. Ashton Larson, 1B .286
8. Casey Borba, 3B .275
9. Dariyan Pendergrass, CF .258
Super Regional schedule
Game 1: 5 p.m., Saturday
Game 2: 6 p.m. Sunday
Game 3: Monday (if necessary), time TBD.
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