Georgia’s potent offense getting muted in College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — Georgia’s Sour Power is experiencing an outage.

The Buc-ee’s candy that has been credited with fueling the Bulldogs’ offensive onslaught has been distributed in sparing doses in Georgia’s dugout at the College World Series. While only a two-game pattern, it threatens to abbreviate the Bulldogs’ stay at Charles Schwab Field.

Georgia’s bats were stilled in its 4-3 loss to Oklahoma on Monday in a winner’s bracket game. In hindsight, fortune favored the Bulldogs in their 7-1 opening win over Texas on Saturday, when five of the Bulldogs’ runs were unearned and they benefited from pitcher Joey Volchko’s historically dominating performance. Texas limited Georgia to five hits, two for extra bases, and struck out 12 Bulldogs.

“We faced a first-team, All-SEC guy Game 1,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said Monday, speaking of Longhorns ace Dylan Volantis. “And then we faced a guy (Monday) who was executing his fastball. So our game’s hard. There is that saying that good pitching can stop good hitting.”

Arguably the top offense in the country, the Bulldogs have hit .194 and slugged .403 in two games — far off their respective season averages of .324 (fourth nationally) and .623 (second). They had scored fewer than Monday’s three runs only twice in 65 games this season.

If they can’t summon their sugary magic Tuesday in an elimination game against Texas, it may well be the end for the Bulldogs’ superlative season.

“We’re going to try to (play our game) at a slow pace, be ready to hit a little more than we were (Monday),” Johnson said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Bulldogs have had a rough time against first-team All-SEC pitchers like Volantis. Saturday was their fifth game against the four starters selected to the first-team All-SEC squad.

That group had a combined 4.35 ERA against Georgia, held the Bulldogs to a .193 batting average and piled up a 35-to-5 strikeout/walk ratio in 31 innings.

The good news for Georgia is that, barring Volantis pitching Tuesday on two days’ rest, the Bulldogs have seen an All-SEC pitcher for the last time this season. The Longhorns’ likely starter Tuesday is Luke Harrison, who has a 4.27 ERA in 77⅔ innings with an 89-to-31 strikeout/walk ratio.

But as Monday showed, it isn’t just All-SEC pitchers who have vexed the Bulldogs in Omaha.

Georgia seemed to have an opportunity Monday night against Oklahoma starter Xander Mercurius, a freshman making his fourth career start. His ERA for the season was 5.82. The Bulldogs might have taken even more encouragement from his performance as a starter — an ERA of 6.14 in 14⅔ innings in three starts.

But Mercurius was on top of the Bulldogs, holding them to three earned runs and six hits across 7⅓ innings. He struck out nine against two walks. Of 29 batters faced, his first pitch generated a strike or an out 21 times, including 11 swings and misses.

It was especially impressive given Monday’s conditions. Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson said he had never experienced a game like it here.

“All I knew was the ball was jumping out,” he said. “I don’t know if the wind was blowing out when it started or they put new baseballs or we had new bats.”

Indeed, Mercurius gave up three home runs — to Kenny Ishikawa, Brennan Hudson and Daniel Jackson. But in part because of his success in keeping the team ranked fourth nationally in on-base percentage from reaching base, all three were solo shots. (Hudson’s led off the fifth inning.)

Only three times did the first batter to start an inning reach base.

“I think we got on base when it was two outs a lot,” Ishikawa said.

Maybe it’s two off games, one against an elite pitcher. Maybe it’s the spacious Charles Schwab Field outfield. In the top of the eighth Monday, Ryan Winn hit a rocket to right field that would have been a go-ahead three-run home run back at Foley Field. In Omaha, it was merely a flyout to the warning track.

Maybe it’s just how baseball sometimes is. In the top of the ninth with two outs, Jackson had a chance to either tie the game or put the Bulldogs ahead with two runners on with his team down 4-3.

He flew out to end the game.

“He missed a pitch and popped it straight up,” Johnson said. “Just missed it. He could have hit it 9 miles like he hit the other one.”

The Bulldogs’ course is laid out for them. To make the CWS finals, they’ll need to beat Texas on Tuesday and then Oklahoma on Wednesday and again on Thursday.

They’re actually in decent shape pitching-wise because Volchko and Monday stater Caden Aoki both threw complete games, leaving the entire bullpen available.

But the bats will need to wake up, too.

College World Series

Georgia vs. Texas