Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: Sports

Hollis Miles - AGGIELAND Aggie pitcher Megan Gibson winds up to pitch Friday against Nebraska. Gibson is a nominee for College Softball Player of the Year Award.

It was another cold, windy Friday night at the Aggie Softball Complex, as the No. 4 Texas A&M softball team took on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a nightcap double-header. Both games were controlled by pitching, but A&M prevailed in both with 1-0 wins. A&M junior pitchers Megan Gibson and Amanda Scarborough both hurled complete game shutouts in dominating performances.

The Aggies improved their record to 31-6 overall (5-3) with the two victories. The Cornhuskers fell to 27-13 on the year (3-4).

In the first game, Gibson allowed only five hits and one walk while striking out five. The game was close throughout, and neither team gave much ground. In the eighth inning, it was the freshmen who finally broke through for the Aggies to give them a walk-off victory.

Freshman right fielder Bailey Schroeder walked to lead off the inning and was later sacrificed to second base. Freshman shortstop Macie Morrow came through with a single, which scored Schroeder and ended the game. The win ended a seven-game winning streak for Nebraska.

Scarborough was almost perfect in game two, allowing only three base runners and striking out nine batters.

A&M head coach Jo Evans said she was pleased with the pitch control of Scarborough, as well as her great presence on the mound.

"She was ahead of the hitters most of the time and just seemed to be in total control," Evans said. "Amanda is just exuding confidence out there."

Scarborough was almost evenly matched by Nebraska pitcher Ashley DeBuhr, who did everything she could in the losing effort. Debuhr pitched the entire game and allowed only four hits and struck out seven.

The only mistake made by DeBuhr came in the third inning, when Gibson hit the 40th home run of her career with two outs. Gibson is now the all-time leader in home runs at A&M.

"Megan is in a league of her own," Evans said. "You can see her at the plate feeling so comfortable. I'm just very excited for her."

Gibson said that she is trying to downplay her achievements to stay focused.

"I think that like everything else, it won't hit until about 10 years down the road," Gibson said. "I don't really think about it now, and it still hasn't hit me yet."

Nebraska's offense struggled in both games, not scoring a single run and scraping only eight hits against Aggie pitching. Cornhusker right fielder Haley Long produced three of the eight hits Nebraska had in the two games, including a double in the first game.

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