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Updated 8:54 AM on Sunday, March 25, 2007

A&M's Scarborough dominates Cyclones

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Sports Writer

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Buy this photo Eagle Photo/Gabriel Chmielewski Texas A&M's Mandy Gegen slides into third base ahead of the throw to Iowa State's Kristen Karanzias during the Aggies' 4-1 victory over the Cyclones on Saturday.

It was vintage Amanda Scarborough.

Texas A&M's junior right-hander pitched a four-hitter and had a pair of line-drive hits to lead the third-ranked Aggies to a 4-1 victory over Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference opener at the Aggie Softball Complex on Saturday.

Scarborough (13-2) retired 16 of the last 17 batters, and the lone hitter to reach, Alex Johnson, was credited with a double when Aggie left fielder Mandy Gegen couldn't make a running catch.

Scarborough threw 92 pitches, 72 for strikes, giving the crowd of 803 plenty to appreciate.

"She looked fantastic - offensively, defensively, on the mound," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "There was nothing she didn't really do well today."

It was the form that made Scarborough the Big 12 player of the year as a freshman in 2005. She batted .405 with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs that season, but Scarborough was almost unbeatable on the mound, going 26-2 with an 0.73 earned run average in leading A&M to the Big 12 title.

She slipped to 15-11 in the circle last season with a 2.47 ERA. Scarborough was 7-4 in league play as A&M finished fourth.

TEXAS A&M SOFTBALL SATURDAY: Texas A&M 4, Iowa State 1 RECORDS: Texas A&M (27-3, 1-0), Iowa State (17-23, 0-1) NEXT: Iowa State at Texas A&M, Aggie Softball Complex, noon Sunday

Scarborough spent the offseason adding a drop ball to her repertoire and experimenting with a different grip on her curve ball.

The results have been staggering. Scarborough is averaging more than a strikeout per inning for the first time in her career, and her control has never been better, averaging one walk every six innings.

"She has a lot of confidence," Evans said. "She believes in herself."

It shows.

Scarborough hasn't allowed an earned run in the last 39 1/3 innings. The last came March 4 against McNeese State, which was the last time A&M (27-3) played at home before Saturday's victory.

"I think I'm a different pitcher this year," Scarborough said. "I'm relying more on different pitches."

She didn't walk a batter Saturday and had 12 strikeouts to tie her career high.

Despite her domination, it wasn't an Aggie cakewalk.

Iowa State pitcher Alyssa Ransom (6-8) did a good job keeping the Cyclones close the first two times through the A&M lineup.

She pitched around Scarborough and Megan Gibson by walking them to load the bases in the third with two outs, then struck out freshman Alex Reynolds to escape the jam.

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Buy this photo Eagle Photo/Gabriel Chmielewski Amanda Scarborough delivers a pitch Saturday against Iowa State.

Ransom, who got the first two hitters out in every inning, was back in trouble in the fifth. Gibson singled. Scarborough smashed a double past the left fielder that banged off the wall and put runners at second and third.

"I'm really feeling comfortable right now," Scarborough said. "It's all about seeing it and timing, and I think everything's in place right now."

That hasn't been the case for Holly Ridley, last year's starting shortstop who was hitting .119 when she pinch hit with runners in scoring position in the fifth.

"I knew that Holly would be aggressive early in the count," Evans said. "And their pitcher was throwing strikes early. I knew Holly would go up there looking to drive the ball. I knew she wouldn't get cheated."

Ridley fisted a two-run single to center field on the at-bat's eighth pitch.

"[Ransom] came inside a few times," Ridley said. "Those were the ones I mainly fouled off. Then I fouled off another change-up, then a curve."

Ransom came back inside with a pitch, and Ridley got enough of her hands through the hitting zone to push the ball to the outfield grass.

"I was watching it," Ridley said. "I was like, 'Oh, it's going to fall. Nobody's going to be able to get to it.'"

The Cyclones didn't, and A&M led 4-1.

A&M took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after two outs.

Jamie Hinshaw singled, stole second and scored on Gibson's opposite-field double. Scarborough then singled sharply to center to drive in Gibson.

"It says a lot about our team that they have the confidence that we can put some hits together [with two outs]," Evans said.

Iowa State (17-23) scored its run with two outs in the second.

Kristen Karanzias singled off the glove of third baseman Hinshaw.

Jessica Quade muscled a single to left. Left-handed hitting Amanda Bradberry beat out an infield hit, and Karanzias scored on A&M shortstop Macie Morrow's throwing error.

"I didn't think those were great hits," Scarborough said, "[but] those are going to happen to you sometimes. They are going to stick the bat out and get hits when you make good pitches."

Scarborough made sure Iowa State didn't have two more cheap hits with stellar fielding of her own.

Scarborough grabbed Bradberry's bleeder in the fifth and made a strong throw to first for the out. In the sixth, Scarborough extended her 5-foot-5 frame to snag a chopper that appeared headed to center field.

"I'm so tired of those hits that get chopped through the infield off of me," Scarborough said.

"I was not going to let that ball get through. I just reached as high as I could and grabbed it."

A&M and Iowa State will play the second game of the two-game series at noon Sunday at the Aggie Softball Complex.

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NOTES - All of Ridley's nine RBIs this season have come with two outs. ... Former President George Bush arrived as A&M scored its first two runs in the first inning, then left after Ridley's two-run single in the fifth. ... Josh Carter, a forward on the Aggie men's basketball team, signed autographs as he watched from the stands. ... Iowa State's season home opener will be Wednesday. ... A&M has several injuries. Starting right fielder Ronda Smith (shoulder) is out for the season. The sophomore played in only 13 games and will be able to redshirt. If she had played in one more game, she wouldn't have been able to redshirt. ... Junior left fielder Jami Lobpries (back) has missed seven straight games and nine of the last 10. The Aggies are hopeful she'll return for the game at Texas on Wednesday. ... A&M senior center fielder Sharonda McDonald singled in the sixth to extend her career-high hitting streak to 16 games. ... Scarborough shattered the bat of Ashley Killeen, which is unusual in the aluminum bat-era. ... Ransom, the lone Cyclone from Texas (Round Rock McNeil) was touched for eight hits.