AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 5 Texas completed a sweep of No. 3 Georgia with a walk-off home run by catcher Rylan Galvin in the 10th inning, lifting the Longhorns to a 4-3 victory Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Southeastern Conference baseball action.
The solo blast over the right-center field wall capped a huge weekend for the Longhorns, vaulting them to the top of the SEC standings with an 11-1 record. Texas beat the Bulldogs 7-4 on Saturday to clinch the series win and opened with a 5-1 win Friday.
Georgia tied the game with a Nolan McCarthy solo homer in the seventh inning, but then Dylan Volantis entered the game for Texas and kept the hard-hitting Bulldogs off the board. Volantis struck out eight in four innings of relief, allowing one hit with a walk and lowering his ERA to 0.95.
The Longhorns had a shot to win the game in the ninth after Tommy Farmer IV roped a leadoff double to put the winning run in scoring position with no outs, but Georgia reliever Brian Zeldin worked around the extra-base hit to strand Farmer.
Volantis retired Georgia in order in the top of the 10th, setting the stage for someone to be the hero. Galvan led off the inning and worked Zeldin to a 3-1 count before he blasted a belt-high 92 mph fastball nearly over the scoreboard in right field. It was Galvan’s only hit of the game and 10th homer of the season.
Shortstop Jalin Flores gave the Longhorns a 3-2 lead in the sixth with a 2-run home run to roughly the same area as Galvan’s. It was Flores’ eighth of the year and 30th of his Texas career. Jaquae Stewart drove in Texas’ first run with a single in the second inning.
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Ruger Riojas had some control issues early in the game but worked through them to get the Longhorns into the seventh inning. Riojas struck out seven with four walks, allowing three runs on three hits in six innings. He pitched to one hitter in the seventh, McCarthy, who took him deep. Volantis’ outing earned him the pitching win.
Kimble Scheussler had two hits for the Longhorns, who out-hit Georgia 8-4. The Bulldogs came into the series No. 1 in Division I with 84 home runs and No. 2 in runs with 327.
On Saturday, Texas came from behind to clinch the series with five runs in the seventh. Flores and Will Gasparino hit 2-run doubles and Scheussler had a sacrifice fly to give Texas a 7-4 lead that stood for the win.
On Friday, starting pitcher Jared Spencer struck out 11 in 7.2 innings and Volantis earned his seventh save. Gasparino hit his team-leading 11th home run and Casey Borba also homered in the opener.
Texas (26-4, 11-1 SEC) hosts Houston Christian at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before hitting the road for Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a 3-game series starting Friday.
