Jeff Howe

Jim Schlossnagle was ready to go to bat for Adrian Rodriguez. Thankfully, the Texas coach didn’t need to intervene on a scoring decision in Monday’s 14-2 thumping of Alabama in a College World Series elimination game. The decision to award Rodriguez a second-inning triple instead of a double with an advancement on an outfield error was historic. Rodriguez would’ve been 5-for-5 regardless of how the hit was scored on an afternoon at Charles Schwab Field when he tied single-game College World Series records with seven RBI and 12 total bases. Still, Schlossnagle felt Rodriguez rightfully earned a cycle. When the official scorebook was changed late in the Longhorns’ rout of the Crimson Tide, the sophomore became the third player in the 79-year history of the College World Series to hit for the cycle. “I mean, had it not been changed by the end of the game, yeah, I certainly would have said something,” Schlossnagle said. “I thought that was a clean triple. I'm glad they made that change during the game.” For Rodriguez, who injured his left hamate bone last season, underwent surgery in the fall and missed time this season when post-surgery complications required a procedure to remove a surgical screw (Rodriguez, as it turned out, was allergic to the cobalt screw used in the initial surgery), his record-setting performance in helping Texas (46-14) advance to an elimination game against either Georgia or Oklahoma on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN) highlighted his late-season surge. To turn things around, Rodriguez had to get back on the field. If Rodriguez had been healthy the whole season, Schlossnagle said, the shortstop would be hitting well over .300 with upwards of 15 home runs. While Rodriguez, who didn’t hit his first home run until an 11-4 road win over Vanderbilt on April 26 and was hitting .258 after going 1-for-5 in a 14-9 road loss to Tennessee on May 9, didn’t have the kind of season one of the top prospects in the 2027 MLB Draft was expected to have, he’s making up for lost time in Omaha. “It's definitely been up and down throughout the season,” Rodriguez said. “I really owe it to all the guys that have been having my back throughout the whole year and especially all the coaches that have had my back when I haven't been right mentally. “It's been a grind, but I'm happy that we're doing it right now in the College World Series.” Rodriguez and assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki went to work after Rodriguez’s eight-game absence, including some swing changes before the series in Knoxville against the Volunteers. Additionally, the switch-hitting Rodriguez devoted himself to hitting left-handed upon his return to help deal with the lingering discomfort in his hand. To quickly adapt to an optimal hitting approach, Rodriguez had to “get more simple.” “Just keeping my head in the same position,” Rodriguez said. “Being able to see the ball better has been a big factor.” Since going 3-for-4 with a three-run home run in a win over Tennessee on April 10, Rodriguez has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games (a 13-game on-base streak after the win over Alabama) and gone 26-for-45 at the plate, raising his batting average to .328. Rodriguez is having a postseason for the ages, going 18-for-27 (.667) in the NCAA Tournament with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs, 16 RBI and 33 total bases. It’s a white-hot stretch that has Texas in the hunt for a national championship and has Schlossnagle feeling good about the 2027 roster, of which Rodriguez will be the headliner among the Longhorns’ position players. “He's a potential first-rounder,” Schlossnagle said. "Hopefully, this summer, we can get him fully healthy, but he's a great player.”

With its season on the line in an elimination game at the College World Series, Texas rode an offensive explosion to a 14-2 rout of Alabama at Charles Schwab Field on Monday to stay alive in Omaha. The Longhorns throttled the Crimson Tide to the tune of 13 hits, seven of which went for extra bases. Adrian Rodriguez had a historic 5-for-5 afternoon, becoming the third player in the 79-year history of the College World Series to hit for the cycle with a two-run double in the first inning, a two-run triple in the second, a single in the fifth and a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth. With the win, Texas (46-14) advances to another elimination game on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN) against the loser of Monday’s winner’s bracket game between Georgia and Oklahoma. The Longhorns avoided a winless stay in Omaha by pouncing on Alabama's (42-21) left-handed starting pitcher Zane Adams, roughing him up for seven earned runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings. Adams, who worked six scoreless innings against Texas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on April 18, opened his 63-pitch outing by giving up a double to Aiden Robbins (1-for-4 with three runs scored) and walking Carson Tinney (0-for-1, four walks and two runs scored). After back-to-back doubles by Ethan Mendoza (3-for-4, two RBI and two runs scored) and Rodriguez, Texas had control of the game with a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Anthony Pack Jr. (3-for-5, four RBI, a two-run home run and three runs scored), Mendoza and Rodriguez shoveled more dirt on Alabama with three consecutive run-scoring hits in a four-run second. With a 7-1 lead when he took the mound for the third inning, Ruger Riojas settled in and kept the Crimson Tide bats at bay, recording a quality start with two earned runs allowed in six innings. Striking out 11 in five innings in a win over Alabama earlier this season, Riojas scattered six hits, walked two and struck out seven. Riojas threw 105 pitches before giving way to the bullpen, with Brody Walls, Ethan Walker and Cody Howard combining for three scoreless innings to end the game.