Texas Baseball's Mindset Unchanged Ahead of Elimination Game Against Alabama

As far as losses go, you're not going to find many more that will sting worse than the one the No. 6 Texas Longhorns were dealt against the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

Getting their time in the College World Series started, it all unraveled quickly for the Longhorns. After striking out in order in the top of the first, they came back to the plate in the top of the second trailing 4-0 on the back of a two-run home run and a pair of errors from catcher Carson Tinney.

It only went downhill from there and eventually resulted in a disappointing 7-1 loss, sending them to the loser's bracket against the No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday.

Texas remaining focused after a setback against Georgia

Texas Longhorns shortstop Adrian Rodriguez records a single against the Georgia Bulldogs in the College World Series. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Despite that, though, the Longhorns are approaching Monday's game with an unchanged mindset. "We play every game the same. We play to a standard, not to the scoreboard," said shortstop Adrian Rodriguez after the loss.

"So it doesn't matter who's on the other side. We play our game. Today we didn't meet that standard. So we need to come back and have a good practice tomorrow and get back at it the next day."

No one will deny that any loss sucks. For the Longhorns, this one feels especially rough, as they looked uncharacteristically sloppy against the Bulldogs. However, their time in Omaha is not done yet. As such, they know the necessity of coming into the game against Alabama completely dialed in.

"I mean all these teams — this is Omaha — all these teams are no joke," said Dylan Volantis. "Just going out there and playing the game. That's all it is. It's playing to a standard, not the scoreboard. Just going out there, treating every game like it's tied and just give it your all."

It would be easy for the Longhorns to just roll over and come out flat on Monday. All season long, though, they've shown that's not who they are. They entered the NCAA Tournament after going one-and-done in the SEC Tournament and then swept through the regional and super regional rounds.

This is a team that has shown on more than one occasion that it can handle adversity and bounce back from losses in strong fashion. They'll look to do so against Alabama, hoping to keep their season alive and stay in Omaha for at least one more day.

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