Ducks’ missed chances define Super Regional Game 1 loss to Texas

AUSTIN — Considering how Dylan Volantis left the mound, the Oregon Ducks should have been happy.

The Ducks had made the Texas ace battle for 5-plus innings of Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional. Oregon’s leadoff batter reached base in four of six innings, the Ducks rattled off eight hits against Volantis and watched him double his career high with four wild pitches.

But when Volantis walked off the field at 9:38 p.m. local time in the sixth inning, he did so with a 7-0 lead and the Texas fans rising in applause.

Because while the Ducks may have made Volantis uncomfortable, Oregon’s night was torturous — on the mound and when it mattered at the plate.

Oregon starting pitcher Cal Scolari walked six and allowed six runs — five earned — in just 3 2/3 innings of work. The Ducks trailed 2-0 after the first, 4-0 after the second, Jonah Barkhoff balked in a run in the fourth and the Longhorns tacked on two more in the fifth.

“He was rushing,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said of Scolari. “He was over-trying and I don’t think he held his composure well enough. He had an off night, right?

“The hitters could have probably picked him up … we left 17 guys on base. That’s really hard to do. To leave 17 guys on base means you got a lot of traffic out there, which means a combination of guys that aren’t hitting really well when we need them to, and guys making really big pitches when they needed to on the other side.”

By the time Volantis left the game with an out in the top of the sixth, he did so with a 7-0 lead and a sold-out Disch-Falk Field rising to its feet.

And he wasn’t even that good.

Sure, the 6-foot-6 left-hander with a sub-2.00 ERA and a curveball that begins in the heavens and ends in the dirt had as good of stuff as Oregon has seen this season. But the Ducks placed at least one runner in scoring position in all six of his innings and he left the game in the sixth with the bases loaded.

But whereas the Longhorns steadied themselves with their backs against the wall, the Ducks flailed when the pressure narrowed: Oregon finished Saturday 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

“We did a good job setting the table,” Oregon shortstop Maddox Molony said. “And the moment got too big a couple of times.”

They didn’t break through until after Volantis left the game, when Thomas Burns walked in a pair of runs before striking out Burke-Lee Mabeus with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Oregon’s only other run came on a Drew Smith solo shot in the eighth inning.

The game was out of hand by then — and well into the fourth hour of a 3-hour, 53-minute game. It was a game so long that by the time it ended, three teams — Troy, West Virginia and Ole Miss — had already swept through their super regionals to punch their tickets to the College World Series.

And while Omaha suddenly feels a bit further from Austin than it did Saturday morning, the Ducks were adamant that this is just one game.

They also have their ace — Will Sanford — set to take the mound on Sunday, while Texas used its scheduled Game 2 starter, Luke Harrison, in relief of Volantis.

Instead of Harrison, Ruger Riojas (5-2, 3.86 ERA) will take the mound with a shot at clinching the super regional.

Now it’s up to the Ducks to make sure no tickets are punched until Monday.

“We didn’t execute well enough,” said outfielder Jax Gimenez, who led off the game with a hit and finished 2-for-3 with a walk. “They had a competitor on the mound and we didn’t win. It was clean in moments tonight, but we know we can be better and we’re going to have to get to a better level if we want to get to where we want to get to. Excited to get after it tomorrow and now it’s time to win a series.”