Texas closer J. Brent Cox refers to himself as a Texas gunslinger with a simple motto: Either shoot or get shot.

He did both on Sunday.

The winner of the Stopper of the Year Award allowed four runs in the first game, a 6-4 loss to Ole Miss, and then came back six hours later to keep the Longhorns alive in the Super Regionals.

Cox pitched an inning of relief and loading the bases before getting Ole Miss’ Cooper Osteen to ground into a double play.

“I had an outing like this earlier in the year against Stanford where I threw well, then got blown up in the second game, only to come back in the third game and pitch well,” said the 6-foot, 4-inch, 206-pound Bay City, Texas, native. “I thought back to that game and the way I felt. I knew I had to grow up then, and I had to grow up again tonight.”

The junior has been virtually unhittable this season, carrying a 1.69 ERA and a 7-2 record. His 15 saves is second in the country.

“The life of a short-reliever is like the life of a gunfighter – you’re either going to win or lose,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “I had to think long and hard about putting him back into that game. He was pretty devastated after what happened in that first game.”

Cox was called on in the seventh inning of the first game with Texas holding a 4-2 lead. He allowed a single, then committed two fielding errors which led to four Ole Miss runs and a 6-4 Rebel victory.

“I put him into the second game because of my confidence in his mental strength and his ability to channel his disappointments into something positive,” Garrido said. “It has been something he’s worked on this season and he did that.”

Cox started the inning by getting Chris Coghlan to line out to second base. He then allowed a walk to former Warren Central standout Brian Pettway, and back-to-back singles by Stephen Head and Alex Presley to load the bases with one out.

“They rally to win the game,” Garrido said of the Rebels. “Every great team seems to have the ability to turn it up and win the game. That’s what they did.”

Osteen’s double play groundout to second base kept the Rebels from winning the second game against Cox.

The hard-throwing right-hander, his right arm covered in ice bags, said he never thought about the first-game failures.

“If you say, ‘Oh, here we go again,’ you’re in for it already,” Cox said. “If you think something bad is going to happen, it will.”

He also said he will be ready to pitch again today, if he’s called upon.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’ve pitched more than this before. I will be ready if they need me.”