What makes you think any of the apologists think they have lost ANY argument???
Even when hard data basically proves your point, they can always fall back to "the spirit told me it was true, so none of this matters." In the apologists mind, they have just won the argument and they can't see how you don't see it!
First, I only think the brighter and more well-informed apologists realize they're losing arguments. Do you really think that Brant Gardner, for example, feels that he's won any argument regarding the horse? Do you think he feels like he's "winning" when he is in such a corner he has to come up with arguments even HE later regrets (like the "horse and chariot" just meant the leader and his spiritual animal companion going into battle...that has to go down in history as one of THE most embarrassing arguments ever).
Realizing you've lost a particular argument is different than thinking you're wrong about the issue. Of course they still believe they're right in the larger argument (because of their testimonies), and eventually evidence will bear them out. But in the meantime... they're losing many arguments, and they're losing badly, in my opinion. Sure, they often act like it's OBVIOUS they're winning, but I think that's a ploy to pacify the unwashed, believing masses who want their faith to be reassured.
The reason I think this is likely is partly due to something I once read about Hugh Nibley (and can no longer remember where I read it). When the Book of Abraham papyri first came out and were translated (for real) and found to be typical funerary documents, the apologists were caught flat-footed. Nibley later admitted this, and admitted that he dealt with it by throwing everything and anything at the wall and seeing what would stick, so to speak. But his later comments made it obvious that he realized what he was throwing at the wall wasn't particularly a strong rebuttal or defense, he was just buying time until they figured it out. I think a version of that often goes on at MAD. Yeah, they believe that, one longed-for day, the evidence will support their fairy tales, but in the meantime, they throw anything and everything at the wall and hope something sticks. Sadly, this is enough to pacify many believers who don't really care about the strength or quality of the defenses, they just want to be told that really smart people believe what they believe, so they don't have to worry about it.