Georgia’s first challenge in CWS? Stellar Texas lefty Dylan Volantis

“That’s our daily routine for us, and it really helps us hit better,” Ishikawa said. “Just seeing the same height and the same movement, I think, helps us a lot better on the hitting side.”

“It’s no replacing a human and an actual arm doing it, but any way we could try to replicate that or mimic that, it really does help,” Georgia second baseman Ryan Wynn added.

Volantis, a sophomore lefty, is also first in the SEC in WHIP (1.02), with a 62.3% groundball rate. The Bulldogs, of course, lead Division l in home runs with a program-record 174, and take pride in hitting for power.

“We play in the Southeastern Conference, and we see Friday night guys every week that are really, really good, and are going to have a chance to play in the big leagues,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said on how the Bulldogs can attack Volantis. “And here’s another good one. This young man’s got a chance to pitch for a long time in this game, and you start trying to change the way you do things, to combat somebody, you usually get in trouble because your players aren’t used to that.

“If all of a sudden we come out, start trying to bunt, probably not going to have a lot of success. Although we work on bunting, it’s just not our strong suit. So, you know, we have to go out and have a good game plan, hunt zones, areas, and quite frankly, you hope he makes a mistake.”

If Georgia wins, it would advance to play the winner of Oklahoma-Alabama 7 p.m. Monday. A loss would send them to the loser’s bracket 2 p.m. Monday against the loser of Oklahoma-Alabama.

The Bulldogs, who will start Joey Volchko (10-2, 4.07 ERA) on the mound, will look to continue their power-hitting ways in Omaha.

“I think he fills up the zone,” shortstop Kolby Branch said of Volantis. “He’s creative with his pitches. He goes with a high release height, a tall left-hander, fills up the zone. Good arm. We’ve been preparing for him. So it’s just, it’s a good arm. So you’ve got to go out there. You’ve got to take your offensive hacks. You’ve got to go out there and be confident in yourself and go out there and believe, or that’s it. Just like we’ve done all year against any good arm. We’re going to go out there, be prepared, be confident in ourselves, for sure.”

Georgia, winners of both the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament titles, did not play Texas in the regular season. But the Bulldogs did face the Longhorns last year, suffering a sweep in Austin.

Volantis made two relief appearances in that series. He held the Bulldogs to one hit in 1 1/3 innings, striking out one and earning the save in the Longhorns’ 5-1 win April 4, and struck out eight, walked one and gave up one hit in four innings in their 4-3 win April 6, earning the win.

“He’s one of the best left-hander pitchers in the country; it’s all about going up there, putting good at-bats together, and grinding them out,” said catcher Daniel Jackson, who leads the SEC and is third in the country in home runs with 31.