A&M took an early lead with a succession of hard groundballs pulled over one of the baselines. In the second, Luke Anders drove in Blake Stouffer, who had doubled, and Kyle Colligan and Brandon Hicks added back-to-back two-out doubles in the third. Rice drove Newmann's pitch count up with a series of long at-bats, earning at least one free pass in each of the first four innings but failing to capitalize thanks in part to two Aggie double plays.

Rice pulled a run back in the fifth thanks to two A&M errors but again failed to capitalize with two on and nobody out. In the top of the sixth, A&M returned the favor, as Rice starter Ryan Berry made a great play to come off the mound on a bunt and get a force at third. On the next hitter, Berry got a strike 'im out - throw 'im out double play to get out of the inning with a big momentum boost.

After being too much around the plate in the early innings, Berry sacrificed his pitch count for effectiveness in a big way. After allowing Hicks' RBI double in the third, Berry proceeded to strike out six of the next seven batters and finished with 10 in the game, the fourth time this year the national Freshman Pitcher of the Year (Collegiate Baseball) has K'd at least 10.

In the late innings, relievers Bobby Bramhall (Rice) and Kyle Nicholson (A&M) brought both offenses to a halt. A baserunning blunder by Brian Friday in the seventh got Nicholson out of an inning, and the righthanded Aggie swingman (15 relief appearances, 10 starts) took a 2-1 lead into the ninth.

Leading off the ninth, Rice outfielder Jordan Dodson - a junior who somewhat surprisingly went undrafted today - led off with a seven-pitch at-bat before chopping a single through the left side, taking advantage of a no-doubles defense. After a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Henley, Rice freshman Diego Seastrunk blooped the first pitch he saw into shallow center field. Kyle Colligan faked as if he had a play on the ball, slowing Dodson's path to home plate, but he slid in safely anyway. Crucially, Seastrunk did not advance to second on the throw home. That led Rice to bunt Brian Friday (the fourth Owl sacrifice of the game), bringing up Jared Gayhart with the winning run at second base and two outs. Gayhart bounced out to second base, sending the game to extra innings.

Bramhall retired the side in order in the top of the 10th inning, giving him eight outs in a row. In the bottom of the inning, a surprising two-out bunt single from catcher Danny Lehmann - not known for his speed - spurred a Rice rally. Nicholson walked Savery on four pitches, and Rob Childress called on Gary Campfield to face Dodson. For the second time in as many innings, the junior from The Woodlands came through, singling through the hole on the left side to bring in high school teammate Lehmann with the winning run, setting off an emotional postgame celebration from the Owls and their fans.