Dodson, who entered the game hitting .167, went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in to lead Rice past Texas A&M 9-7 in the opening game of a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional.
“Coach (Wayne Graham) told me earlier this week to be ready,” said Dodson, who also walked and scored twice. “He told me to get ready for some at-bats this weekend, but I was surprised to get the start. Today, I just saw my pitches and went with it.”
Left-handed relief pitcher Cole St. Clair gave up one run in the final 4 1/3 innings, bringing the Owls (46-13) within one win of their third straight College World Series appearance and seventh since 1997. Game 2 of the series is today, with a third game Monday if needed.
Chad Mozingo and J.P. Padron added two hits apiece for the Owls, who have won four straight games in the postseason and haven’t lost in the Regional or Super Regional round since 2006.
St. Clair (10-2) allowed two hits and struck out three batters.
“This is the kind of game that we needed, and we got contributions from all over our lineup,” Graham said. “We did a great job with the base runners we had, and Cole was Cole.”
With the game tied 6-6 in the fifth, the Owls scored three runs with two outs against reliever Kyle Thebeau (6-5). Jimmy Comerota and Mozingo started the rally with walks and scored on a double by Dodson, who later came home on an error by first baseman Luke Anders.
The Aggies (46-18), who lost to Rice in the Super Regionals last year, had tied the game with three runs in the fifth, highlighted by doubles from Anders and Darby Brown.
Starters Ryan Berry and Brooks Raley were ineffective and didn’t factor in the decision.
A&M’s Raley didn’t make it out of the fourth inning and was replaced by Thebeau after giving up six earned runs and six hits. Berry allowed five earned runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings and was replaced by Bryan Price, whom the Boston Red Sox selected Thursday with the 45th pick in the draft.
The Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings, getting a sacrifice fly from Dane Carter and an RBI single by Blake Stouffer. But the Owls tied the game in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Diego Seastrunk and Dodson.
“This wasn’t very typical of a Super Regional game, much less the first game of a weekend series,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “I think we got off to a good start today with those two runs, but today it was our inability to shut them down and hold the lead. They just kept it going after we came back to tie it.”
Rice scored two runs in each of the next two innings, taking advantage of Raley’s wildness in the third, and big run-scoring hits by Dodson and Padron in the fourth.
Former Belton and Temple College standout Brian Ruggiano scored three runs and walked twice for the Aggies.
