“We got a great pitcher, what’s his name?” Here at Southeast, Senior left-handed pitcher Dylan Dodd is the answer to this question posed by country music group Alabama. Currently, Dodd holds a 4-1 record when he is on the mound leading the Redhawks to a 19-15 record and second in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Dodd is tied for 42nd in strikeouts in the NCAA with 71 batters sat down on strikes. He is behind only junior Christian Edwards from Jacksonville State in the OVC, but has pitched less innings.
Dodd said a lot of strikeouts are nice to have but he is more interested in helping the team win more games.
“I think it’s cool,” Dodd said. “But, personally I think I’m more involved in trying to win a regular season championship for our team.”
Dodd has appeared in nine games for SEMO in a total of 56.1 innings while totaling a 3.20 ERA and only walking 12 batters. In a game against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on March 12, Dodd struck out a total of 10 batters in only five innings of play. Dodd said the reason he has had such a successful season is because of his hard work, his teammates, and the coaching staff.
“The guys around me pushed me to be better and better every day,” Dodd said. “The coaching staff, they do a good job of putting me in a great position to succeed.”
Dodd throws a variety of pitches from the curveball to the fastball that reaches speeds above 90 mph. Sophomore catcher Andrew Keck said this is what makes Dodd so difficult for batters to go up against.
“The 95 mph fastball is something he has made his money off of this year,” Keck said. “That pitch and now the curveball, it makes him pretty lethal.”
Southeast has only lost two of the nine games Dodd has appeared in so it is safe to say good things happen when he is on the rubber.
Redshirt sophomore catcher Wade Stauss said when you have a guy like Dodd out there you want to match his competitiveness.
“He’s gonna work hard for us and pitch well because he’s a great competitor,” Stauss said. “You want to give him the run support and defensive support because we know he’s working for us.”
Dodd and the Redhawks return to the diamond in a three game series with the Belmont Bruins starting on Friday, April 30 in Nashville before coming back to Capaha Field to clash with Eastern Kentucky in a series starting on Friday, May 7.
