Joey Volchko scattered four hits and struck out a career-high 15 as No. 3 Georgia opened its College World Series campaign with a 7-1 win over No. 6 Texas. Rylan Lujo powered the early surge with a two-run homer, and Georgia carried the momentum all the way th
OMAHA, Neb. — The opening game of Georgia’s College World Series felt like a plan executed in real time.
Joey Volchko delivered a complete game four-hitter and finished with a career-high 15 strikeouts, leading third-seeded Georgia past sixth-ranked Texas 7-1 on Saturday in front of 25,002 fans at Charles Schwab Field.
Volchko didn’t just control the scorecard—he controlled the moments. Georgia’s junior struck out the side in the first and fourth innings. then kept Texas off balance as he rolled to Georgia’s first nine-inning complete game of the season and the first at the College World Series since Mike Rebhan did it twice in 1990. when the Bulldogs won the national title. His 15 strikeouts were also the most by a Georgia pitcher in a College World Series game.
Georgia’s offense gave him a runway quickly. Sophomore centerfielder Rylan Lujo put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0 with a two-run blast off the fair pole in left field. It was Lujo’s 14th home run of the year. and the swing came with Tre Phelps on base after a leadoff walk. By the time Georgia padded the lead to 4-0 in the first. the innings had turned into a scramble—thanks to a pair of errors. two wild pitches and two hit batsmen.
The margin widened in the later innings, too. In the seventh, Lujo added an RBI-double, and left fielder Kenny Ishikawa followed with a two-run single to extend Georgia’s advantage to 7-1.
Behind all of it was a pitcher who never looked like he needed the game to calm down. Afterward, head baseball coach Wes Johnson described how the early scoring and Texas’s early miscues helped Georgia settle in.
“We got on the board early with Rylan’s home run and then they had a couple miscues in the first and you combine that with the way Joey (Volchko) was throwing tonight. and everybody could relax a bit. Then, Rylan gets another big hit and Kenny (Ishikawa) comes up with one and that really stretched it out. Obviously, the story tonight was Joey and the way he commanded pitches and hit spots. It was one of the most impressive complete game performances that I’ve been a part of.”.
Volchko framed the performance around execution and composure. On his complete game, he said he came in with confidence in the plan.
“I felt a lot of confidence and comfort with the gameplan we came in with tonight. We had a very clear plan and executed. We always talk about it as a team in terms of don’t panic, don’t get sped up. I had to attack the zone. and I did that with the first hitter even after I got behind in the count 3-1 and then came back with a strikeout. I’ve grown as a pitcher and credit goes to coach Wes Johnson.”.
With the win, Georgia improved to 52-12 and tied the school record for wins in a season. The 1990 national championship team went 52-19.
It also reinforced how hard Georgia has been to score against—Saturday’s 7-1 outcome marked the 31st time this season that Georgia held its opponent to three runs or less.
Georgia now turns immediately to its next test. The Bulldogs (52-12) will face Oklahoma (39-22) Monday at 7 p.m. ET at the College World Series. The game will be televised by ESPN and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. Oklahoma blanked Alabama 9-0 in its opener on Saturday.
College World Series Georgia Bulldogs Texas Longhorns Joey Volchko Rylan Lujo Charles Schwab Field Wes Johnson Kenny Ishikawa Omaha
15 strikeouts is insane. College baseball is way more fun than NFL tbh.
So Georgia beat Texas 7-1 but it says 25,002 fans? Like where did all those people come from lol. Also Texas always chokes in Omaha or what.
Wait, Volchko had a career-high 15 Ks and a complete game… but the article also mentioned Georgia had errors and wild pitches? So was it really “controlled” or was Texas just helping him out?
Charles Schwab Field in Omaha sounds fancy but still 7-1 feels like the score got decided by one homer. I don’t even know who Texas’s pitcher was, but two hit batsmen and wild pitches sounds like Georgia was just laying the wood and then the ump got weird? Either way Volchko sounds like the whole game.