September 27, 2005
The Texas A&M Softball team will kick-off their fall season this Thursday as they face the Bulldogs of Navarro College in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. at the Bryan High School softball field.
The Aggies, who finished No. 9 in the final ESPN/USA poll, return six all-conference lettermen from the '04-'05 team that advanced to a NCAA Super Regional. A&M has also added three freshmen to the '05-'06 roster.
"We are extremely excited to start playing actual games," commented A&M head coach Jo Evans, who enters her 10th season at the helm of Aggie softball. "The fall season is so important to our development as a team and our readiness to compete in the spring. Every one of our players has worked extremely hard in individual workouts and team practices to improve and polish their skills, but you can only do so much on the practice field. It will be fun to get the players on the field and let their instincts take over and play softball the way they know how."
A&M returns last year's Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year, Amanda Scarborough. In '05 Scarborough posted a 26-2 mark and a 0.73 ERA in the circle while hitting .405 with 11 home runs, 43 RBI and a .719 slugging percentage and was named the NFCA All-America first team as a utility player. She also posted an 11-1 mark and a .410 batting average in conference play while leading the Aggies to the Big 12 Regular Season title. Scarborough was named to the All-Big 12 first team and earned two Big 12 Pitcher of the Week awards and two National Player of the Week awards.
Another returning letterman, Megan Gibson helped the Aggies hit their way to the top with a .405 average while posting a conference-high 18 home runs a .823 slugging percentage while driving in 57 RBI and was named to the NFCA All-America second team; a first-team All-Big 12 performer, Gibson hit .321 while hitting three home runs and driving in 15 runs in league action.
After Thursday's games, the softball team will return to action on Tuesday, October 4 when they host McClennan College in one of four doubleheaders scheduled in College Station for the fall season. Game-times are set for 3 and 5 p.m. at the Bryan High softball field.
Please note that the fall games are being played at the Bryan High School softball field while construction is being completed on the new playing surface at the Aggie Softball Complex.