Texas slugger joins elite company with cycle in oddest of ways in Men's College World Series

Texas needed a win against Alabama on Monday afternoon to stay alive at the Men’s College World Series. Turns out, the Longhorns did more than win -- they made some history, too.

Sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez hit for the cycle in a 14-2 Texas victory. He became the third player to hit for the cycle in Men’s College World Series history, joining Minnesota’s Jerry Kindall (1956) and Tennessee’s Christian Moore (2024).

Rodriguez -- whose nickname, fittingly, is A-Rod -- completed the cycle amid an unusual sequence of events in the seventh inning. First, he clobbered a two-run home run to right field for his fourth hit of the day. Shortly afterwards, the official scorer at Charles Schwab Field changed the ruling on Rodriguez’s second-inning at-bat from a single and a two-base error to a triple.

Combined with his double in the first inning and single in the fifth inning, that gave Rodriguez the cycle. He later tacked on a fifth hit -- a run-scoring double -- in the eighth inning, notching the first five-hit game of his collegiate career.

After the game, Rodriguez said he is giving the ball from his fifth hit to one of his brothers, Lucas, who was in the stands watching the game with their parents.

Rodriguez finished the day with 12 total bases and seven RBIs. He’s the seventh player to record at least seven RBIs in a single Men’s College World Series game. The Orioles’ Jordan Westburg -- then playing for Mississippi State -- was the last to accomplish the feat in 2018. Rodriguez previously set a career high with five RBIs just last week in the Super Regional against Oregon.

Rodriguez is now hitting .667 (18-for-27) through seven NCAA Tournament games. He’ll have an opportunity to stay red-hot against either Georgia or Oklahoma in another elimination game on Tuesday.