Even the freshman knows — for the Texas Longhorns, dog piling only happens at one time in one place.
That’s after a winning the College World Series in Omaha.
So even though star freshman right-hander Sam Cozart and sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez both admitted to “blacking out” in the celebration after beating Oregon 6-5 on Sunday to advance to Omaha out of the Austin Super Regional, there was no dog pile at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Rodriguez did remember the team going out to left field to celebrate
with the fans who congregate behind the fence and added to the announced attendance of 8,465.
“Just insane to see how many fans we have that have our back and watched us play these last two days, and I can’t be thankful enough for these Longhorn fans,” he said.
Cozart, the 6’6, 260-pounder who looks and performs like a grizzled major league closer, immediately approached the super regional win and the program’s return to Omaha for the first time since 2022 with his typically mature perspective.
“I think we as a team understood that winning that doesn’t mean that we were memorable here yet,” Cozart said. “Winning a super regional at Texas isn’t memorable. Winning a national championship, that’s when we get to dog pile.”
The perfect two-inning save by Cozart, his ninth of the season, featured four strikeouts, including the game-ending swing and miss by Oregon’s second-leading hitter, Ryan Cooney, and was dramatic enough that Cozart might be selling short a game that also included a late comeback keyed by the go-ahead two-run double by Rodriguez in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and two outs.
But the overall point still stands — on the program’s record 39th trip to the College World Series, the expectation is to win a national title. And while the determination of whether this Texas team is good enough to win the seventh title in its history will to a large extent hinge on the opening matchup against No. 3 Georgia, the highest-seeded team remaining, the standard for the Longhorns remains both simple and stratospheric.
As Sunday gave way to the early hours of Saturday morning at the Disch, Schlossnagle wasn’t interested in looking ahead yet, reflecting instead on two late friends and a sign he passes every day.
One was Texas super fan Scott Wilson, whose picture hangs in the Longhorns baseball facility. The Austin native and UT alum attended 594 straight Texas football games and 1,564 baseball games over 25 years before suffering a medical emergency traveling to watch the Longhorns play the Gators in Gainesville last October, passing away later that month.
“Scott Wilson, great Texas fan that meant a lot to everybody in this program over the decades, and was a very dear friend to me. I certainly wish he was here to see it,” Schlossnagle said.
The other was legendary head coach Augie Garrido, who struck up a late-life friendship with Schlossnagle when he was the head coach at TCU, setting the stage for Schlossnagle to first consider the possibility of coaching at Texas.
“Of course, the last one, just for me personally, is Coach Garrido. Seventeen years ago was my first super regional on this field, and I remember how that felt to lose, and then we won the next one, but I miss him and feel his presence all the time,” Schlossnagle said.
Garrido’s shadow does still loom large over the program — in his 20 years on the Forty Acres, Garrido won 824 games, took Texas to eight College World Series, and won national titles in 2002 and 2005.
So that’s a legacy that impacts how Schlossnagle feels to make his first College World Series at Texas in his second season as the Longhorns head coach.
“My biggest fear in life is to let somebody down. I know the standard is a national title, and we’ll certainly do our best to win that, but I have to walk by that sign every day that says 38 trips to Omaha, and 38 has been sitting there for a while, so I’m glad we’ll at least be able to change it to 39,” Schlossnagle said.
Playing in the College World Series is the realization of a longtime dream for Rodriguez, who said he’s watched it every year since middle school.
“It was a surreal moment when Cozy got that last out, and I just can’t wait to go there and compete,” Rodriguez said.
Cozart has a closer personal connection — his older brother Jacob made the 2024 College World Series with NC State, but the Wolfpack only lasted two games in Omaha.
“I want to do more than what he did,” Cozart said.
“He didn’t win it all. I want win it all.”
