OMAHA, Neb. – Adrian Rodriguez had more hits on Monday than the Longhorns did in their opener on Saturday.
Rodriguez hit for the cycle, going 5 for 5, and tied a CWS record with seven RBI as No. 6 Texas downed No. 7 Alabama 14-2 in front of 22,687 fans on Monday afternoon in Game 7 of the 2026 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
The Longhorns (46-14) will face the loser of the Georgia-Oklahoma game on Tuesday, June 16, at 7 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide concluded their season with a 42-21 record.
Rodriguez became just the third player to hit for the cycle in a College World Series contest. Jerry Kindall of Minnesota accomplished the feat on June 11, 1956, in a 13-5 victory over Ole Miss. Christian Moore of Tennessee also hit for the cycle on June 14, 2024, in a 12-11 win over Florida State.
“I’ve made some swing changes with 2-0 probably when — the Tennessee series. So it’s through the back stretches with, like, dealing with my hand, I’ve got to get more simple, and just keeping my head in the same position, just not — being able to see the ball better has been a big factor.”
Rodriguez is now one of seven players to have seven RBI in a CWS game. The most recent to accomplish it was Jordan Westburg of Mississippi State on June 19, 2018, in a 12-2 win over North Carolina.
After just four hits and one run in their CWS opener, UT got the bats going in the bottom of the first. Aiden Robbins had a leadoff double to left and Carson Tinney followed with a walk. With one away, Ethan Mendoza doubled just inside the left field foul line to knock in Robbins with the game’s first run. Rodriguez laced a double into the right field corner to bring home Tinney and Mendoza to make it 3-0.
Bama got one back in the top of the second but might have been more. John Lemm drew a leadoff walk on an 11-pitch at-bat and went to second when Eric Hines walked as well. After not getting a sacrifice bunt down, Brennan Holt lined to first baseman Ashton Larson, who beat Hines to first base for an unassisted double play. Luke Vaughn followed with a base hit to left to drive in Lemm to make it 3-1.
The Longhorns put up another crooked number in the second. Anthony Pack Jr. and Mendoza had run-scoring base hits and a two-run triple by Rodriguez to extend the lead to 7-1.
Lemm homered to right center in the fourth, his 10th of the season, as Bama narrowed the margin to 7-2.
Pack Jr. smacked a two-run homer in the sixth, his 12th of the season, as UT went up 9-2. Rodriguez added a two-run shot later in the frame, his fifth, to complete the cycle and make it 11-2.
Rodriguez added an RBI double to cap a three-run eighth in the 14-2 win.
Ruger Riojas (6-2) gave the Longhorns an outstanding start, going six innings with six hits, two runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.
“I thought Ruger did a nice job working around some deep counts and a little bit of traffic,” said UT head coach Jim Schlossnagle.
“We understood what was at stake,” Riojas said. “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. I think we were very present today.”
Pack Jr. was 3 for 5 with a homer, three runs and four RBI, while Mendoza went 3 for 4 with a double, two runs and two RBI for the Longhorns.
Lemm went 1 for 3 with a homer, a walk and two runs for the Crimson Tide.
“Nothing new I learned,” said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said of his first trip to Omaha. “It’s just still baseball. You’re doing it in front of 24,000 people in the cathedral of college baseball, which was a heck of a lot of fun. But I didn’t feel like the moment was too big for our guys. I didn’t feel like they felt sped up. I didn’t feel like they felt nervous or scared of the moment. I just didn’t think we were good enough. We ran into two really good teams, and we just weren’t good enough to beat them with the way we played and the way they played. So nothing crazy there, but good time here. Wish we could have stayed longer.”
Notes
- Texas snapped a four-game losing streak at the CWS.
- The Longhorns have 89 wins in 39 trips to the CWS, both top marks nationally.
- Texas is 14-2 all-time against Alabama and 3-0 in the CWS.
- In Saturday’s loss to Georgia, the top four hitters in the UT lineup went 0 for 15 with 11 strikeouts. In Monday’s win over Alabama, the top four hitters went 7 for 15 with four walks, one HBP and scored 12 runs.
- Adrian Rodrguez extended his on-base streak to 13 games.
- Carson Tinney drew four walks, the first player to do that in a CWS game since Alan Ahmady of Fresno State against North Carolina on June 22, 2008.
- Alabama went 0-2 at the CWS for the first time in six appearances.
- Justin Lebron extended his on-base streak to 17 games.
- Bryce Fowler extended his on-base streak to 14 games.