Longhorns Look to Buck Omaha Trend vs. Alabama in MCWS

The No. 6-seed Texas Longhorns enter an elimination game against 7-seed Alabama on Monday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.

First pitch for the Men's College World Series losers' bracket is set for 1 p.m. CT.

For Texas, a historic season hinges on whether the Longhorns and second-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle can buck a relatively uncommon trend for the program with the winningest postseason resume all-time.

Texas' 7-1 loss to 3-seed Georgia on Saturday was the team's sixth-straight MCWS opener loss. Just as the Lady Longhorns did in Oklahoma City at the Women's College World Series, Texas will need to win four games in a row to climb out of the bottom bracket and reach the championship series.

The Longhorns' last win in Omaha came in 2021 after dropping the opener. Texas won three games in a row before falling to Mississippi State, one game away from the finals. A year later, Texas was two and through, losing to Notre Dame and Schlossnagle's Texas A&M Aggies in 2022.

This is the program's first trip back to the MCWS since then.

According to PEARatings on X, the Horns command just an 8.8 percent chance of advancing to the finals and a 5.2 percent chance of winning it all.

The six-time national champions have not returned to the MCWS championship round since 2009, when Texas fell to LSU.

It will need to be a short memory for the Longhorns offense, which was held uncharacteristically quiet against the Bulldogs as starting pitcher Joey Volchko went a complete nine innings and struck out 15.

"Number one, Volchko was awesome. He didn’t walk a guy until the ninth inning, threw an endless amount of strikes," Schlossnagle said of the things that impacted the Longhorns' Omaha debut.

"I was actually super impressed — in an era of baseball where there’s strikeouts and emotional things happen in the game — I didn’t see him once scream at our team or do anything that some kids do these days. I thought he was super professional and was outstanding."

While Volchko was dealing, the Longhorns' defense didn't give starter Dylan Volantis much help themselves on the defensive end. A trio of errors - especially two early in the game from catcher Carson Tinney - helped Georgia pounce early. The slim run support was all Volchko needed.

"The other story of the game is, from a defensive standpoint, that’s the worst game we played the whole season, which is super disappointing on our end," Schlossnagle said. "It leaves a very bad taste in our mouth, and we’re certainly looking forward to a good day of practice tomorrow and getting back on the field on Monday to play better baseball, because I don’t know if it would have mattered, considering Volchko was so awesome, but, yeah, that was not good on the part of the Longhorns."

Schlossnagle is one of just four men to lead three different programs to Omaha in their career. He leans on how the Longhorns' attention to detail off the field help in their preparation just as much as the work between the lines.

"We spend more time, effort, and money than any program in the country on the mental game," Schlossnagle said after Sunday's practice. "That’s why, actually, last night was so disappointing, because I did see some guys super sped up in the moment."

That mental effort will need to pay off with a long road of do-or-die baseball ahead, beginning Monday afternoon against the Crimson Tide.