OMAHA, Neb. – Call him “A-Rod” if you want to, but Adrian Rodriguez came up with one of the biggest games in Men’s College World Series history when his team was facing elimination
Rodriguez went 5-for-5 with 7 RBIs, tying CWS records for RBIs and total bases in a game with 12, hitting for the cycle with doubles in the first and eighth, a triple in the second, a single in the fifth, and a two-run homer in the sixth, and Texas walloped the Alabama Crimson Tide 14-2 to stave off elimination at the 2026 Men’s College World Series.
The cycle continued a stellar streak for Rodriguez, who was 13-for-22 in the NCAA Tournament, having gotten at least two hits in every game going back to the Longhorns’ regional opener against Holy Cross on May 29. His explosion against Alabama makes him 18-for-27 in the tournament with, seven doubles, a triple, a homer, and 16 RBIs, signalling that he’s recovering well from a hand injury suffered last season that required another surgery earlier this season, causing him to miss eight games.
“It’s definitely been up and down throughout the season. 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,” Rodriguez said. “So it’s been a grind, but I’m happy that we’re doing it right now in the College World Series.”
It was the first cycle at the College World Series since June 14, 2024, when Tennessee’s Christian Moore accomplished the feat on the series’ opening day in a 12-11 win over Florida State, and the third time it had occurred. The first, accomplished by Jerry Kindall of Minnesota, came on June 11, 1956 in a 13-5 win against Ole Miss.
“He just had the same breakfast I had this morning. But A-Rod’s a good player,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said when asked what he’d been feeding Riojas. “A-Rod would be a mid .300s, a high .300s, double-digit homer, 15-homer player. He’s a potential first-rounder. Hopefully this summer we can get him fully healthy. But he’s a great player.”
Aidan Robbins led off the game with a double for Texas, taking a 1-0 changeup from Alabama’s Zane Adams into the left field corner. Carson Tinney drew a walk, and then a one-out double by Ethan Mendoza down the left field line scored Tinney and Mendoza to give the Longhorns a 2-0 lead. Rodriguez then cranked a double into the right field corner to score Mendoza.
Alabama got one back in the second when John Lemm drew a leadoff walk and scored on a single by Luke Vaughn to make it 3-1.
In the second, the Longhorns kept their foot on the gas, getting a lead-off single from Casey Borba, who moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dariyan Pendergrass. Carson Tinney drew a two-out walk, and then a single by Anthony Pack Jr. scored Borba. Ethan Mendoza then took a 1-2 pitch on the outer half into right field for a single, scoring Tinney.
A fly ball to left off the bat of Adrian Rodriguez fell in between Tide left fielder Eric Hines and center fielder Bryce Fowler, with a misplay by Hines allowing the ball to go to the wall, giving Pack and Mendoza plenty of time to score and Rodriguez to reach third base for a 7-1 Texas lead. Originally scored a single with a two-base error by official scorer Shamus McKnight, it was changed to a triple later in the afternoon.
“I mean had it not been changed by the end of the game, yeah, I certainly would have said something. I thought that was a clean triple,” Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle said of the triple. “But I’m glad they made that change during the game.”
A walk to Temo Becerra ended Tide starter Zane Adams’ day after 1 2/3 innings and 63 pitches.
“They kind of kept coming and kept making Zane work, and there was nothing easy there,” said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn. But they got some balls that bounced their way early, and then we didn’t execute in some areas where we could have probably shrunk the gap a little bit and just couldn’t quite get it done, couldn’t quite get that big hit.
A solo homer by Alabama’s John Lemm in the fourth cut the lead to five, but that was as close as the Tide would get.
A pair of two-run homers in the sixth, one by Anthony Pack Jr. and another, a tape-measure shot to the last row of the right field bleachers by Rodriguez that went 420 feet according to TrackMan, made it 11-2 Longhorns.
In the eight, Texas added three more, with Rodriguez doubling home Tinney and Pack to finish off his historic day at the plate.
Meanwhile, Texas got six solid innings from starter Ruger Riojas, who allowed two runs on six hits and no walks, and the bullpen allowed only one runner to reach base over the final three innings, with Ethan Walker and Cody Howard combining to throw a perfect ninth.
“We understood what was at stake. This could be it. For me, this could be it as a Texas Longhorn. But we play the game how we do. It’s a standard, not a scoreboard, and we can’t let anything get over our heads such as the result or the outcome of what could be,” Riojas said.
With the win, Texas stays alive in the loser’s bracket, where they will face the losing team from tonight’s game between Georgia and Oklahoma Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EDT.
NOTEBOOK – Alabama finished the season 42-21. The Tide were outscored 23-2 in their first trip back to Omaha in 27 years. Following the game, Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said of his players and team, “I’m fortunate to get to be a part of it. They took me along for a heck of a ride. So forever indebted to the 2026 Alabama baseball team. And I challenge those young pups out there. The foundation’s been late. It’s their job to get us back. It’s their job to get us back. It ain’t going to be 27 years again, I can promise you that.”
Photo: Texas infielder Adrian Rodriguez (24) hits for the cycle during an NCAA baseball College World Series elimination game against Alabama, Monday, June 15, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. Texas won 14-2. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)
