As the Oregon Ducks prepare to play the Texas Longhorns in the Austin Super Regional, Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski didn’t hold back when asked about the Texas pitching staff about to face the Ducks offense.
Mark Wasikowski on the Texas Longhorns Pitching Staff
“Video game numbers. Low walks, high strikeouts, low hits per innings pitched, they’re just really good. They command their pitches, they command their pitches in and out of the zone, they’re really competitive, they’ve got power arms out of the bullpen. It’s just a balanced team, and that’s what you’d expect out of the University of Texas.”
Oregon relied on quality pitching of their own in order to advance through the Eugene Regional with three straight wins, but the Ducks bats are gearing up for one of their biggest challenges yet. Wasikowski and company just got past an Oregon State team with a pitching staff that holds the lowest ERA in the country as a team at 3.22.
The Longhorns might not have an ERA like the Beavers, but Texas ranks in the top five in pitching categories like strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout to walk ratio.
Texas pitcher Dylan Volantis is considered the ace of the Longhorns’ staff, currently boasting an ERA of 1.94 (No. 3 nationally) and a WHIP of 0.94 (No. 6 nationally) with 83.1 innings pitched. Texas reliever Sam Cozart is one of the top freshmen in the SEC with a 6-0 record and 8 saves on the season…