March 01, 2006
Amanda Scarborough was lights-out in the circle and Megan Gibson contributed all the run support the 14th-ranked Texas A&M softball team (11-6) would need to beat the Sam Houston State University Bearkats (5-7), 2-0, Wednesday at the Bearkat Softball Complex in front of 382 fans.
?Megan has really been the difference maker for us thus far,? commented A&M head coach Jo Evans. ?She is the one player who has consistently come in game in and game out and drove the ball and given us a real chance to win.?
Gibson earned her 12th RBI of the season in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to center. Sharonda McDonald singled to center to get things started and Jamie Hinshaw was hit in the helmet, to advance McDonald to second. McDonald and Hinshaw advanced to third and second on a double steal.
Gibson added RBI No. 13 in the top of the third with a two-out solo homerun to leftfield.
Scarborough improved to 5-3 on the season with the shutout. She threw seven complete giving up one hit, walking two and striking out nine.
?Amanda was right on,? Evans continued. ?We needed some consistency in our pitching and hitting and in our defense. I?â„¢m very happy for Amanda because she was in total control tonight.?
?We knew that we had to come out and win this game,? Scarborough said. ?We came out there with the attitude that we were going to win this game. When you go out there feeling comfortable, you are going to pitch better. It?â„¢s always nice to have an early lead. It allows you to play around with pitches and go right at the batter.?
With the one-hit shutout, Scarborough and Gibson were named State Farm Players of the Game. Gibson drove in both of the Aggies?â„¢ runs going 1-1 with a homerun.
The Aggies will kick-off the St. Joseph Texas A&M Invitational Thursday at 6:30 pm against BYU. During the course of the four-day tournament A&M will play five games. Joining the Aggies and BYU in the tournament field will be the College of Charleston and Texas Southern.
?It will be nice to play at Aggie Field again,? Evans said. ?Three out of the four teams in the tournament were NCAA participants last season, so the competition will be good. It is a great time to string some home games together and get on a roll.?
You can access live audio and stats for the tournament by logging on to AggieAthletics.com. Fans attending any home game this season can listen to AggieAthletics.com?â„¢s broadcast inside the stadium on 89.9 FM.
To purchase tickets for Aggie home games, contact the Texas A&M Athletic Ticket Office at (979) 845-2311 or (888) 99-Aggie.
NOTE: With two against SHSU, McDonald has stolen 70 consecutive bases.