OMAHA — Sam Cozart is the type of player Texas baseball needs to win a seventh national championship.
He’s tough and fearless, even in packed stadiums. But that seventh title won’t come in the final weekend of the 2026 College World Series.
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Texas teammates look on from the dugout during an NCAA baseball College World Series elimination game against Georgia on June 16, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. Georgia won 2-0.
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
After a sparkling freshman year, the burly closer was in no mood to talk accolades after the Horns came up short in a 2-0 elimination loss to the SEC champion Bulldogs Tuesday. Cozart pitched great in his Longhorn debut, earning NCBWA National Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors. His final 3⅓ innings lowered his ERA to a miniscule 1.72 but it came in a losing cause. The feeling of loss will carry him into his sophomore year where he could possibly follow Dylan Volantis’ lead and go from closer to All-America weekend starter.
Texas outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. (6) makes the catch in front of outfielder Maddox Monsour (32) during a College World Series elimination game against Georgia, Tuesday, June 16, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. Georgia won 2-0.
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
“I think for me it’s a comfort to to know the pain of how much it sucked having to sit out there with our older guys, knowing that their careers are over and that we didn’t get our job done,” he said. “And it’s a comfort to know that I know that pain because when it comes to next year and this fall coming up, that I’ll have a reason to make someone better.”
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The high-octane Texas offense that showed its mighty might in Jim Schlossnagle‘s second season in the 512 had no answers for the Georgia duo of Dylan Vigue and Justin Byrd, who teamed up to put the Texas dugout in a straitjacket for the second straight matchup. They ruined a career performance from outgoing lefty Luke Harrison and some nasty stuff from Cozart who held the Bulldogs to only five hits while striking out 17.
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On any other day, the Horns would have been the ones celebrating a win in an elimination game and a chance to play Oklahoma on Wednesday but the burnt-orange breaks that occurred in Monday’s 14-2 win over Alabama were nowhere to be found.
“The ball bounces didn’t go our way tonight but I’m really proud of our team and the season we had, finishing in Omaha,” Schlossnagle said. “And we’re looking forward to being back.”
A 2-0 loss might as well have been 10-0 because the vaunted bats that helped carry this group team to a top-five ranking for most of season were more silent than an empty LBJ Library at midnight. Cozart joined Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney on All-America teams while left-fielder Anthony Pack, Jr. was named Baseball America’s National Freshman of the Year. It was real bummer to watch the offensive trio produce a measly two hits, both singles, in 21 at-bats in two losses to the Bulldogs.
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It didn’t happen often this season but when that three-headed monster went missing, the Horns could be had. In previous title campaigns, the Horns got production from top to bottom but the non-stars never seemed to gel this season and this was especially crushing in Omaha when the last four positions in the batting order went 2-for-38 with 16 strikeouts.
The book on the 2026 season will include feelings of pride and appreciation but the ending was anything but happy. A 46-15 finish is admirable but the standard is championships, something that has eluded Schlossnagle in his successful career.
Georgia infielder Ryan Black (right) slides safely into home and scores the second run of the game in the seventh inning during a College World Series elimination game against Texas on June 16, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. Georgia won 2-0.
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
Pivotal plays sealed Texas fate
Texas fans will remember the two plays that played a huge role in their team’s demise since they led to the game’s only runs. Tre Phelps’ fifth-inning double — the first hit off Harrison — produced the game’s first run and it turned out to be all the Bulldogs would need but Texas fans will remember the fateful seventh inning when center fielder Dariyan Pendergrass’ apparent catch of a diving attempt of Ryan Black’s blooper was ruled a hit when the ball popped out of his glove as he rolled over to stand up.
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Dallas Cowboys fans who still talk about Dez Bryant’s catch that wasn’t in the 2014 playoff loss at Green Bay must have felt a stabbing pang in their gut when the replay officials ruled against the Horns. Three batters later, Black dove in headfirst just ahead of catcher Tinney’s tag after shortstop Adrian Rodriguez made one hell of a throw from short left field despite bumping into left fielder Pack, Jr.
That was curtains but even with a frustrating two hours and 55 minutes in the rear view, the Horns had a chance to produce some Chris-Carmichael type of magic in the eighth with Rodriguez — their hottest hitter representing the go-ahead run — in the box with two runners aboard. It wasn’t happening. Byrd produced the money pitch and Rodriguez hit a slow roller to Georgia first baseman Brennan Hudson for the routine out. There would be no Bill-Buckner gift.
Texas pitcher Samuel Cozart (35) makes a diving catch in front of Texas catcher Carson Tinney (8) during an NCAA baseball College World Series elimination game against Georgia on June 16, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. Georgia won 2-0. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)
Vera Nieuwenhuis/Associated Press
It was that kind of night for the Horns who finished up with one lone College World Series win this year after going down in order in the ninth.
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The way it ended has to burn in the fan base’s soul because the Horns came up with the clutch hits time and time again during the season until they didn’t with the whole country watching.
“We just really didn’t really get it going tonight unfortunately,” said Robbins, who will be an early-round pick in the upcoming MLB draft along with Tinney. “We couldn’t string hits together. We couldn’t stack at bats. It sucks when you know you can win against a team like that. They’re very good over there and us as well but it’s very tough for sure.”
Luke Harrison went out with a great outing
Harrison had a dream start in his final game as a Horn by tying his career high in strikeouts with 10 and on most days, the pitching he and Cozart delivered would have been more than enough to secure a win.
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They were both dealing but the offense didn’t have the cards needed to win the biggest hand of the season.
“I told the guys earlier this year that if we don’t to go Omaha, my time as a Longhorn is a failure,” Harrison said. “And I’m glad that we made it and were able to compete here. You get here and you get a bunch of good teams playing baseball together and you just kind of go and let the chips fall where they may. It’s a bitter ending but I’ll remember this time with a smile forever.”
Who returns in 2027?
In previous years, coaches left Omaha for a well-deserved vacation but the transfer portal has changed the game. It’s open for business and Schlossnagle must replace Robbins, Tinney, Harrison and right-hander Ruger Riojas to name a few. If he can keep the vultures away, expect Volantis and Cozart to headline a deep pitching corps with Pack and a presumably healthier Rodriguez taking on a bigger role next season. Add shortstop Linkin Garcia, who transferred over from Texas Tech after hitting .338 his freshman year, and the building blocks are there though Schlossnagle’s work in the portal will determine if the Horns are back in Omaha this time next season.
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“We got to get home fast,” Schlossnagle said. “We got a lot of work to do this week.”
As for Cozart, Schloss won’t have to go looking for leaders. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound grown man in a teenager’s body left no doubt as to how he will fill that role.
“It’s a winning tradition and my job is to make sure there’s no timid or weak players in our program and if there is, it’s to either make them stronger or get them out,” he said.
The Horns made it back to college baseball’s Promised Land for the first time since 2022 but the ultimate goal eluded them.
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They will get another bite at the prize. While coaching legend Augie Garrido always said “Omaha is mandatory at Texas,” success isn’t guaranteed.
Texas will live that reality this offseason.