2026 College World Series: Round One Notebook

The first round of games is complete, and it’s been an incredible start to this year’s College World Series. There was a steal of home, a slew of epic pitching performances, and a routine weather delay. Lets dive into the College World Series Round One Notebook.

Each of the four games is discussed in this notebook, complete with stats, fun facts, and post-game dialogue.

Troy vs West Virginia

Hall and Oates is one of the great musical duos of our time, but Hall and Korn is the duo that is keeping the Country Roads melody going strong. 

Tyus Hall had four runs batted in from the 9-spot while Ian Korn tossed six two-hit innings of relief as West Virginia edged Troy in the opening game of the 2026 College World Series, 7-5.

It was a fantastic way to ring in this year’s tournament, as a back-and-forth affair stayed close for the full nine innings and saw a bevy of lead changes and ties throughout.

“Heck of a college baseball game,” Troy head coach Skylar Meade said. “[It’s] two programs that are absolute fighters. And that’s really what that game was. It felt like a heavyweight bout.” 

West Virginia and Troy traded body punches early on, as Mountaineer speedster Armani Guzman stole home to open up the scoring. It was the first straight steal of home plate in the College World Series since 2000.

Troy responded, and the two teams matched each other blow for blow, seeing two lead changes and two ties before the end of the 3rd inning. But by then, in the land of cornhuskers, West Virginia had turned to Ian Korn in relief of a shaky Chansen Cole.

Korn dazzled for six innings, allowing just two hits and one run– a 115 MPH home run off the bat of Sun Belt Player of the Year Jimmy Janicki. 

“What Ian Korn did in that game to stabilize it to go six innings, two hits was nothing short of miraculous,” said WVU head coach Steve Sabins. 

For Korn, he kept the Troy hitters off balance by going against his usual tendencies, allowing the relief ace to provide a long and effective outing.

“I was throwing some more cutters than usual,” said the senior right-hander. “The slider wasn’t working. We threw some more curveballs. So we were mixing up a little more than usual, kind of against the scouting report they probably had.”

Janicki’s solo home run in the 7th had tied the game at 5-5, and West Virginia’s offense needed another hero to escape Troy’s upset bid.

“Tyrus Hall played as good as anybody,” said Sabins. “He had the big double off the left-center field wall and followed it up by incredible defensive play that ended up saving a run.”   

Those two plays earlier in the game put Tyus Hall in the argument for Player of the Game even before he stepped up to the plate in the 8th inning. He left no doubt after bouncing a single through the right side of a pulled-in infield to drive in two runs. 

Overall, WVU’s nine-hole hitter went 2-for-3 on the day with four RBI and a walk while playing stellar defense at the hot corner. His two-run single in the 8th would prove to be the difference.

After getting two outs in the 9th but allowing some baserunners, Korn made way for Ben McDougal, who closed out the game with a strikeout to seal the victory. 

For Troy, Janicki went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. Senior reliever Zach Crotchfelt tossed 4.1 strong innings out of the bullpen, but was the losing pitcher after he gave up the soft hit to Hall in the 8th.

Troy will take on Ole Miss in an elimination game on Sunday at around 1:10 local time.

West Virginia will be hoping for another on-field rendition of “Country Roads” after facing the North Carolina Tar Heels in the winner’s bracket on Sunday night.

Ole Miss vs #5 North Carolina

Captain Carolina, the Incredible Hull, Globe, and the UNC Avengers utilized the ‘Hynek Maneuver’ and rode their ace to another comeback win.

For the second straight week, Jason DeCaro shone on the mound, following up his complete game Super Regional shutout with 6.2 innings of two-run baseball. He matched a career high with nine strikeouts, then made way for freshman phenom Caden Glauber.

The kid affectionately known as “Globe” went the final 2.1 innings and earned his 11th win of the year. UNC is now a perfect 26-0 when he pitches. 

On the other side, Ole Miss right-hander Taylor Rabe was dominant as well, allowing just two hits and one run over 5.2 innings. Despite Rabe’s performance, the Tar Heels were able to drive his pitch count up and force the bullpen into action early.

“I felt like I was getting to two strikes, and with two strikes I was making some good pitches, and they were fouling them off,” Rabe said. “That’s one of their strengths as a team and their approach as an offense, and they did a really good job of that.

An Owen Hull solo home run tied the game 1-1 after 6 innings, but Ole Miss restored the lead with a clutch two-out hit off Glauber by Judd Utermark. The Rebel senior swung at a 3-0 fastball and lined the ball through the infield.

But the Carolina offense was into the Ole Miss bullpen, and the blue-collar boys from Chapel Hill went to work, earning back-to-back lead-off walks. After a sac bunt, All-ACC shortstop Jake Schaffner lofted a sac fly to right field to tie the game again.

And then Captain Carolina, Mr. Regional himself, Gavin Gallaher shot an RBI single into the outfield for his first Omaha hit. He’d been 0-for-15 heading into that at-bat. Colin Hynek would add a three-run blast in the 8th, and that was the dagger.

“[It was a] pitching duel, a good night– their guy was on, our guy was on,” said UNC head coach Scott Forbes. “It was hard to do anything offensively for both teams… Our guys kept hanging around, piecing it together.”

“It was just two really good teams, and I’m thankful that we came out on top.”

Ole Miss faces Troy in an elimination game on Sunday at around 1:10 local time.

North Carolina will face another elite arm in Maxx Yehl and the West Virginia Mountaineers in the winner’s bracket later that evening.

Oklahoma vs #7 Alabama

An Oklahoma Rager and a French Canadian said: “bonne nuit” (good night in French) to the Alabama Crimson Tide after delivering a knockout blow in their opening showdown.

Cord Rager took a no-hitter into the 5th, and catcher Deiten LaChance had a Kirk Gibson-esque moment as the Oklahoma Sooners rolled to another big victory.

Alabama’s John Lemm broke up Rager’s no-hitter to lead off the 5th inning, but the freshman stayed in control for two more innings for an outstanding Omaha debut. Over 7 shutout innings, he gave up just three hits and struck out eight without giving up a walk.

Over three starts, Rager has given up just three runs over 19 innings while striking out 24 batters and walking none. When most freshmen are hitting a wall late in the year, he’s getting better as the year rolls on. 

The pivotal moment of the game came in the 6th inning, with Alabama down 3-0 and a runner on base with Deiten LaChance up for OU. Earlier in the game, he’d rolled his ankle while running the bases, but mid-game treatment allowed him to stay in.

The Quebec native launched a no-doubter to left field that broke the game open for the Sooners. He hobbled around the bases, evoking memories of Dodgers’ slugger Kirk Gibson and his 1988 World Series walk-off home run.

“He went full Kirk Gibson on us, didn’t he?” said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn in the postgame. “My goodness. You talk about a second-half turnaround. That guy was allergic to a slider a month and a half ago.” 

LaChance now has 16 home runs in his past 29 games, and his 12 taters since May 1st lead the nation. Oklahoma as a team now has 38 home runs since May 1st, after having just 43 total long balls in the season’s first two and a half months.

“I tripped at second early in the game,” LaChance said of his ailment. ”My ankle is fine. I’m 100 percent. I’ll be fine to keep playing. There’s no problem right there.”

The Sooners scored nine runs, marking the sixth straight game in which they’ve scored eight or more runs. Since losing to Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Regional, OU has won six straight games. The confidence and self-belief are through the roof for this squad.

“We’re really playing like we want to play as long as we can together,” LaChance said. So that just changes the way we attack the game. And all the guys in the box, if you’re a head coach on the other side, you’ve got to be scared of nine guys. I mean, everybody can do everything.”

“You can put the Yankees in front of me, I don’t mind,” he added.

The Sooners will not face the Yankees on Monday night in the winner’s bracket, but they will face the tournament favorite in Georgia. First pitch will be at roughly 6:10 local time. 

Alabama will face Texas in an elimination game earlier that day at roughly 1:10 local time.

#6 Texas vs #3 Georgia

It was a Georgia boy who outfiddled the Devil, and everybody knows you can’t play Texas without a fiddle in the band. Well, Joey Volchko played the strike zone like a fiddle, and he was playing it hot as the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Texas Longhorns, 7-1.

Volchko went the distance for Georgia, striking out 15 Longhorns and allowing just one unearned run. It was easily the most dominant and impressive performance of his three-year collegiate career.

“Volchko was awesome,” said Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle. “[He] didn’t walk a guy until the 9th inning, and he threw an endless amount of strikes.”

The former Stanford standout set the tone in the first inning, striking out the side after getting behind the leadoff hitter with a 3-1 count. He struck out the side again in the 4th inning, marking the fourth time this NCAA Tournament that he’s achieved that.

In Volchko’s 50 career appearances entering the postseason, he’d only managed that feat three total times. The junior attacked the zone early and often, throwing nearly 75% strikes on a season high 114 pitches. At one point, he’d thrown a first pitch strike to 17 of 20 batters.

“The story tonight was Joey,” said Georgia head coach Wes Johnson. “He was commanding pitches, just hitting spots. If we called it low and away, he hit it. If we called the slider strike to ball, he did it. It was one of the most impressive complete-game performances I’ve been a part of.”

Volchko gained an early advantage when Rylan Lujo lined a 2-run dinger off the left field foul pole in the 1st inning. After a quick review, it was correctly called a home run, and the Dawgs had an early 2-0 lead.

Perhaps it should have stayed that way, but multiple dropped third strikes to the next two batters resulted in throwing errors to first base, and two more unearned runs crossed the plate for Georgia.

Three different errors doomed the Longhorns, as ace Dylan Volantis and the bullpen gave up just two unearned runs on the night. With the score 4-1 in the 7th, the Bulldogs capitalized on a lead-off throwing error and ended up tacking on three runs of insurance to seal the deal.   

“From a defensive standpoint, that’s the worst game we’ve played the whole season,” said Schlossnagle. “On our end, that’s a very bad taste in our mouth. And we’re certainly looking forward to a good day of practice tomorrow and getting back on the field on Monday to play better baseball, but I don’t know if it would have mattered considering Volchko was so awesome.”

Texas scored its lone run thanks to an error as well, as Adrian Rodriguez singled to first and then advanced to third after a failed pickoff resulted in an errant throw. 

He’d come around to score on an Ethan Mendoa single, but then a momentum-killing double play ended the rally before it could begin. Georgia becomes the big favorite to win the National Championship, while Texas will need to survive the loser’s bracket to force a rematch.

“We’re not going to die, I don’t think,” said Schlossnagle when asked about how dire the situation was. “It’s unfortunate to lose the game, but dire is a little deep there. It’s a baseball game. We’ll be all right.” 

Texas will throw down with fellow national seed Alabama with their season on the line at roughly 1:10 on Monday.

The tournament favorites, Georgia, bark on and will face the Oklahoma Sooners in the winner’s bracket on Monday night at roughly 6:10 local time.