After gaining and losing an early edge, the No. 6 Texas Longhorns are returning to the College World Series for the first time since 2022 thanks to a 6-5 win on Sunday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field against the No. 11 Oregon Ducks.
Freshman right-hander Sam Cozart picked up his ninth save with four strikeouts over two perfect innings, entering after sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez sent a two-out double down the left-field line to rally from the Ducks scoring five unanswered runs between the second and seventh innings.
With No. 3 Georgia set as the College World Series opener for the Austin Super Regional winner earlier on Sunday, Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney launched some greetings for Oregon standout Will Sanford, needing just six total pitches to hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first.
Neither left any doubt — a 385-foot line drive pulled to left center by Robbins with a 102 mile-per-hour exit velocity and a 418-foot tank to the opposite way by Tinney at 110 mph off his barrel.
The 24th homer of the season from Robbins pushed him into third on the school’s single-season list. Tinney’s was his 22nd.
Freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. put Sanford in further trouble by drawing a full-count walk, but Rodriguez took a full-count strike looking and Pack was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning, a sharp pivot for Sanford’s early fortunes.
Looking lively with his fastball and secondary pitches, Ruger Riojas went 1-2-3 with a strikeout. Sanford responded in the second after allowing a one-out single up the middle by Ashton Larson by recovering from falling behind Casey Borba with two riding fastballs at his knees for the inning’s second out.
Larson advanced to second on a wild pitch as Dariyan Pendergrass worked ahead 3-0 and took a 3-1 walk to bring up Robbins with runners on first and second and two outs. The third consecutive breaker from Sanford was the third ball and also a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance.
Sanford got a strike looking on his fastball and a curveball that got a swing and miss, but the full-count offering bounced away from the catcher, allowing a run to score as Robbins took his walk to bring up Tinney. First-pitch swinging, Tinney slashed a line drive one-hopper past the Oregon third baseman at a big exit velocity to make it 4-0 after Sanford’s 50th pitch.
The Ducks responded when Riojas nearly worked around a leadoff double with consecutive strikeouts before Oregon battled enough for a softly-hit single against the shift to open its scoring. Sanford faced less pressure from the Horns in the third by stranding a runner on first after a two-out single. Still, Sanford was up to 79 pitches through three innings, ensuring a shortened outing for the Oregon standout.
Some sloppiness from the Texas infield by Rodriguez kept the Horns from turning an inning-ending double play, required confirmation at second base, and led to an RBI double down the left-field line by the Ducks to make it 4-2. Against a Texas shift, a cued ball to to the right side drove in another run to put Oregon back in the game.
Riojas escaped without further damage after a groundout to first, but as momentum took a turn, the Horns didn’t pressure Sanford until a two-out rally when Robbins drew a four-pitch walk and Tinney muscled a single the opposite way. After drew a walk, the Oregon starter departed in favor of top reliever Tanner Bradley to face Becerra with the bases loaded and two outs. Down 3-0 after three missed breaking balls, Bradley ripped two straight changeups, striking Becerra out swinging on the second to strand three.
A two-out walk by Riojas only briefly extended the fourth inning before Rodrguez, Mendoza, and Larson came to the plate to start the fifth, an unproductive inning for Texas when Pendergrass stranded two runners with a weak groundout to the pitcher to end a long at bat.
Oregon tied the game at 4-4 against Riojas with two weak singles, a sacrifice bunt, full-count walk, and RBI groundout to second base. Facing off against 6’5, 264-pound Naulivou Sauaki, Riojas got a four-pitch swinging strikeout to leave two Ducks on base.
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle turned to freshman right-hander Brody Walls for a second straight game, a move that led to a leadoff double and the runner advancing on a passed ball before junior right-hander Thomas Burns entered in a 1-2 count with a runner on third and no outs. Burns only needed one pitch for the strikeout, traded an out for the go-ahead run, and ended the frame with a five-pitch strikeout.
And after Rodriguez capped the two-out rally in the eighth, Cozart slammed the door with the type of effectiveness he’s set as his standard during a superlative freshman season that is now marked by a trip to Omaha for the the record 39th straight time as a true national-title contender.
