Wes Johnson has Georgia riding high at the College World Series in just his third year as the Bulldogs head coach. This is Johnson's first time at the CWS as a head coach, but he still has a lot of experience as he was LSU's pitching coach when they won a National Championship in 2023 right before he took the head coach job at Georgia.
Does anyone remember who was on that LSU team? Superstar pitcher Paul Skenes who has become one of the best pitchers of this generation.
Skenes doesn't have a connection to Georgia whatsoever, that is before a story came out about how he helped convince Joey Volchko to transfer to Georgia. And considering the gem he just pitched against Texas at the CWS on Saturday, maybe Skenes deserves a little credit for that victory.
Interesting fact. Georgia’s Joey Volchko talked with Paul Skenes about what it was like to work with Wes Johnson before making the decision to transfer to UGA. Joey fans 15 in the CWS last night, and Skenes appears on his way to a great game as well. https://t.co/7ZXN79qI4L
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) June 14, 2026
Paul Skenes helped Georgia land Joey Volchko out of the Transfer Portal
Volchko is a transfer from Stanford who came to Georgia last offseason. One of the schools that Volchko thought about transferring to was LSU, and before making his final decision he spoke to Skenes about what he should do.
One would assume that Skenes would try to convince him to go to LSU because that is where he played, and it sounds like he maybe did a little. But Skenes gave Johnson the endorsement of a lifetime by telling Volchko to go to Georgia and play for him if he wants to become an elite pitcher.
That is what Volchko ultimately decided to do, and the rest is history.
Now Volchko is the hottest name in Omaha after throwing 15 strikeouts in a performance for the ages against Texas. And while Skenes won't be asking for any credit, Georgia fans should give a nice tip of the hat to him for his assist.
Can Joey Volchko outperform Paul Skenes at the College World Series?
Skenes was the Player of the Year in 2023 largely because of how great he pitched in Omaha en route to LSU's National Championship. Volchko however has a chance to do even better.
Skenes pitched two games during the College World Series and LSU won them both, but he was only credited with one win. He finished his two starts throwing 21 strikeouts while giving up seven hits and two earned runs.
Volchko's stats are on pace to be better than that at the College World Series, but he will need another really good start to have a better overall performance in Omaha. Georgia also needs to win a National Championship as well so Volchko can match the ring Skenes won.
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter if Volchko outplays Skenes or not, but it is really cool that he is even in the same conversation right now.
Volchko may not get a chance to pitch again until the National Championship series, and Georgia has a lot of work to do still to even get their. Their journey at Omaha though will continue on Monday, June 15 at 7:00 pm EST against the Oklahoma Sooners where a win would put them in a great spot to make the National Championship series.
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