OMAHA, Neb. — Following his team’s 7-1 loss to Georgia to Charles Schwab Field on Saturday night, Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle said there were “two stories to that game.”
First off, Georgia junior pitcher Joey Volchko was good. Like, really good. Over a complete-game effort, Volchko struck out a career-high 15 batters while allowing four hits, one unearned run and one ninth-inning walk. The top four hitters in the Texas lineup — one of which was Temo Becerra, who played with Volchko at Stanford from 2024-25 — went 0-for-15 on Saturday.
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Secondly, three errors didn’t help the Longhorns’ cause. After letting Georgia score five unearned runs, Schlossnagle retorted that “from a defensive standpoint, that’s the worst game we’ve played the whole season, which is super disappointing. On our end, that’s a very bad taste in our mouth.”
A seventh-inning mishandling of a ground ball by sure-handed third baseman Casey Borba led to three unearned runs. But it was catcher Carson Tinney’s two errors in the first inning that put the Longhorns in an early hole.
Bad throws help sink Texas Longhorns
With one out and Texas trailing 2-0, Texas pitcher Dylan Volantis threw a strikeout pitch to Georgia designated hitter Mike O’Shaughnessy that bounced in the dirt. However, O’Shaughnessy got aboard when Tinney sailed the ensuing throw to first base.
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Volantis later struck out Georgia’s Kolby Branch with the bases loaded on what should have been an inning-ending pitch, but his wild pitch got away from Tinney. Instead of holding onto the baseball and ceding a run to Georgia, Tinney rushed a throw that sailed wide of UT first baseman Ashton Larson. That allowed Georgia to score a second run on that strikeout, and the Bulldogs suddenly had a 4-0 lead.
Texas Longhorns catcher Carson Tinney (8) walks to home plate during the game against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday, May. 14, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Along with his teammates, Tinney left the stadium almost immediately after the game ended and was not made available for comment. Schlossnagle and Volantis, though, did share their thoughts on those key errors during a postgame conference.
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“The first one just got away from him. It’s an imperfect game played by imperfect people. He’s an All-American player, going to be high draft pick. Heart and soul of our club. The first one, if you play 100 games, something like that can happen,” Schlossnagle said. “The second one, he didn’t get to block it, and he was in a rush to try and throw it, and he slung it a little bit.
“Carson’s a great player. He’s an unbelievable human. It’s unfortunate that it happened in that game. I expect him to respond in an awesome way on Monday.”
Schlossnagle pointed out that Tinney later got off a successful throw to first base on a strikeout that wasn’t caught. A Buster Posey Award finalist, Tinney had committed just two errors in 2026. He entered this season’s 51st start at the catcher position with a .997 fielding percentage.
“He’s been phenomenal all year-round,” Volantis said. “For me that was the first time that’s happened.”
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Texas Longhorns pitcher Dylan Volantis (99) and catcher Carson Tinney (8) celebrate a strikeout during the game against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Thursday, May. 14, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Texas looks to avoid elimination against Alabama
Following its first three-error game since April 17, Texas will attempt to stay alive at the College World Series on Monday afternoon. Awaiting the Longhorns in an elimination game at Charles Schwab Field will be Alabama, which lost a 9-0 game to Oklahoma in its Omaha opener.
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More: Ruger Riojas longing for his special moment before he leaves Texas baseball
Texas (45-14) and Alabama (42-20) met earlier this season in Austin, and the Longhorns won two of their three games against the Crimson Tide. Following UT’s loss on Saturday, Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle announced that Ruger Riojas (5-2, 4.04 ERA) will start against Alabama.