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Aggie softball team gets shut out at No. 4 Arizona

Special to the Eagle

TUCSON, Ariz - The No. 2 Texas A&M softball team lost, 5-0, to No. 4 Arizona in front of 672 fans on a chilly night at Hillenbrand Stadium.

With the loss, the Aggies drop to 12-1 on the season while the Wildcats improve to 10-2. Texas A&M had beaten then-No. 1 Arizona 3-2 on Feb. 11 at the Kajikawa Classic.

Arizona pitcher Taryne Mowatt (6-2) pitched a one-hitter for the Wildcats, striking out 13 Aggies.

"Overall I thought Mowatt threw great. She kept our hitters off balance, hit her spots and deserved to win," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "I came here saying we're going to learn some things about our team, and the first thing we learned is that now we know we can lose a game, so let's move forward. I'm anxious to see how we come out tomorrow and am looking forward to it."

A&M's Amanda Scarborough (6-1) had 10 strikeouts in her first loss of the season. She allowed five runs on seven hits.

"I thought Scarborough pitched a pretty good game," Evans said. "She got herself in some trouble with the two walks in the third inning."

A&M's best chance to score came in the top of the sixth, when Macie Morrow reached on an error by second baseman Chelsie Mesa. Hinshaw was hit by a pitch to move Morrow to second. Scarborough hit a sacrifice fly to right field, moving Morrow to third. Hinshaw stole second before Gibson ended the inning with a ground ball to shortstop.

Most of Arizona's damage occurred in a three-run third inning, which was sparked by two walks and three consecutive Wildcat singles. Arizona added another run in the fifth off singles by Caitlin Lowe and Kristie Fox.

The Wildcats capped the win with a solo home run by Callista Balko in the sixth inning.

The teams will meet for Game 2 of the three-game series at 8 p.m. Saturday.