Sometimes the next visit is just the best visit.

That was the case for four-star edge rusher K.J. Green, who visited the Oregon Ducks last weekend before making a trip to Baton Rouge to visit LSU this weekend. Green left Eugene with a positive visit, and the Ducks had every reason to feel like a contender and potentially a frontrunner in the race.

However, Green’s trip to LSU went so well that the pass rusher from Stone Mountain, Georgia, decided to lock in his commitment with the Tigers. Green wasn’t scheduled to commit until August 8, and it appeared that Green would take all of his visits before making a decision, so the early commitment was a surprise.

Green chose LSU over Oregon, South Carolina and Georgia. He is the No. 48 player and No. 8 edge rusher in the country, per the Rivals Industry Ranking. During his junior season in high school, Green racked up 129 tackles, 40 for a loss, 18 sacks and four forced fumbles. He was named a MaxPreps Junior All-American and was the Region 5-AAA Defensive Player of the Year.

The winning formula for Texas baseball against Oregon in the opening game of the Austin Super Regional seemed relatively simple: perform on the mound, create traffic on the bases and control the game. If the Longhorns could avoid a slow start and Dylan Volantis kept sharp, they could trust the Ducks’ aggressive approach at the plate would eventually work against them.

Well, Texas did that. More or less. 

Volantis turned in one of the more unusual starts of his season, setting a career high in wild pitches while walking four and allowing eight hits. But he also struck out 10 batters and stranded 10 Oregon runners through 5 1/3 innings.

That proved to be more than enough for the Longhorns to take advantage of an Oregon pitching staff that simply could not stop handing out free passes.

Texas effectively outlasted the Ducks on Saturday night, scoring 11 runs on just eight hits to claim Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional and move one win away from its first College World Series berth since 2022. 

“I think both teams had one opportunity, and the difference in the game was we got some pitches up and put some balls in play to score runners with third base and less than two outs, and they didn’t,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “You can give credit to Dylan mainly for that, making pitches when he had to make them.”

Texas Delivers While Oregon Repeatedly Comes Up Empty

While Volantis did not have his sharpest outing of the season, he delivered when it mattered most.

Oregon put runners on base in every inning Volantis pitched and stranded 10 runners through the first five frames. The sophomore left-hander battled command issues, uncorked a career-high number of wild pitches and frequently worked in and out of trouble. Yet time and time again, he escaped.

The Ducks threatened in the first inning, putting runners on the corners before Volantis struck out Brayden Jaksa to escape the jam. It was not the last time Oregon would leave runners in scoring position, as the Ducks finished the night 0-for-14 with RISP. 

And despite giving Volantis trouble, Oregon repeatedly came away empty-handed.

Texas could not say the same. 

The Longhorns got things going in the first inning, when Adrian Rodriguez ripped a two-run double into the left-center gap to score both Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr. to give the Longhorns an early lead. One inning later, Casey Borba launched an opposite-field home run — his 18th of the year — before Dariyan Pendergrass scored on a Robbins sacrifice fly after drawing a walk and stealing two bases.

And while Texas took advantage of every scoring opportunity, Oregon continuously left the door open. 

With the bases loaded and one out in the third inning, Volantis once again slammed the door on Oregon’s scoring chance by striking out Jaksa and inducing a groundout to end the inning. In the fourth, Oregon put runners on second and third with nobody out before Volantis struck out the next two batters and recorded another groundout to complete the escape act.

After Volantis exited in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, Thomas Burns struck out his first batter before issuing back-to-back two-out walks that cut the Texas lead to 8-2. But Luke Harrison, an expected Game 2 starter, entered and struck out Blake Mabeus to strand the bases loaded.

“Super cool to see Luke Harrison come into that situation and just do the job,” Volantis said. “He’s the most trustworthy guy you could ask for; whatever you ask of him, he’s going to do it.” 

In the bottom half of the inning, Rodriguez delivered another RBI on a sacrifice fly before Ethan Mendoza launched a two-run homer to left-center field. Rodriguez finished the night with a career-high five RBI. 

Harrison worked another scoreless inning before Brody Walls closed out the final two frames, allowing just one run on a solo homer in the eighth.

The Longhorns and Ducks will meet again Sunday night, with Texas now just one win away from its first Men’s College World Series berth since 2022.

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By: Mia Maldonado

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has appointed her chief of staff to temporarily lead the state’s transportation agency.

Chris Warner, who has worked with Kotek since 2023, will serve as the Oregon Department of Transportation’s interim director until the agency finds its next director.

He is taking over Lisa Sumption’s interim position so she can return to role as the director of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as it undergoes long-planned changes to improve the state park system. Sumption has led the agency since January, when former ODOT director Kris Strickler left the state government. Strickler now works as a senior vice president at a national engineering firm. 

Before joining Kotek’s team, Warner held leadership roles at the Portland Bureau of Transportation for six years — including three as the local agency’s director. He previously worked as a legislative aide to former U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, who spent years as the chair or ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and a transportation adviser for former Gov. Ted Kulongoski. 

Warner will be leading a state agency that doesn’t know how it will fund basic road maintenance and operations at its current levels beyond the 2025-27 budget cycle. Last month, Oregonians overwhelmingly voted against hikes to the gas tax and other transportation fees that would have covered the agency’s budget shortfalls for the next decade. 

Kotek has tasked transportation and business experts to find and propose a solution by the end of the year for lawmakers to consider during the 2027 legislative session. That’s when lawmakers, like in 2025, will once again have six months to compromise on a transportation package.  

Warner joined Kotek’s office as deputy chief of staff at the start of her term, and the governor promoted him to chief of staff after her initial chief of staff, Andrea Cooper, and several other top employees abruptly left the office over concerns about the increasingly influential role of Kotek’s wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson. Kotek walked back plans to create an office of the first spouse amid scrutiny of those plans. 

“I’m grateful to Lisa and Chris for being willing to step in and serve the people of Oregon who depend on a safe and reliable transportation system,” Kotek said in a statement. “Their efforts allow the state to take the steps needed to find the best director for Oregon’s transportation future. Chris has the experience needed to keep the organization moving at this truly critical juncture. He has my full confidence.”

Emerald Bogue, who joined the governor’s office in early spring as a special adviser under a temporary agreement with the Port of Portland, will fill the chief of staff role. The changes will take effect at the end of June. 

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services is still conducting a nationwide search to hire a new transportation director to lead the more than 4,500 employees that maintain the state’s transportation system.