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Updated 7:06 AM on Saturday, May 26, 2007

Aggies win to open series

Early offense enough in 2-0 shutout

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

Texas A&M played small ball, then long ball, but won with smart ball.

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Buy this photo Eagle Photo/Dave McDermand Texas A&M's Jamie Lobpries is congratulated after she scored the first run in the Aggies' 2-0 win over Florida on Friday.

The seventh-ranked Aggies eked out an emotional 2-0 victory over the Florida Gators in an NCAA Super Regional opener Friday night at the Aggie Softball Complex before 1,047 fans.

A&M (45-11) needs one more victory in the best-of-3 series to advance to the Women's College World Series for the first time since 1988.

Two years ago in the Super Regionals against Alabama, the Aggies never led at home. This time they started strong buoyed by a boisterous crowd and played seven solid innings.

"I thought that our kids looked really, really good tonight," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "They certainly showed up. We were very sharp and really crisp in the way we played the game tonight."

The Aggies showed the same emotion that allowed them to bounce back last week from an 8-1 loss to Houston to win the CS Regional.

A&M was the aggressor early against Florida, manufacturing a run in the second inning after a 17-minute rain delay.

Jami Lobpries and Macie Morrow sandwiched singles around Alex Reynolds' sacrifice to put runners on the corners.

The Gators, who are ninth in the nation in fielding percentage at .974, opted to play the infield in. A&M's Joy Davis obliged by grounding sharply to second baseman Kim Waleszonia, whose throw was to the right of catcher Kristina Hilberth, allowing Lobpries to safely slide head-first into the backside of the plate.

"Some kids would have hesitated and not been able to score," A&M head Evans said. "But she is very aggressive and looking to score. There was no way she wasn't going to score. And I thought that was huge."

Florida sophomore right-hander Stacey Nelson retired the next two batters to escape further trouble, but Megan Gibson touched her for a solo home run in the third.

Nelson had allowed only three home runs in the previous 303 2/3 innings. But Gibson got connected with a screwball for her 12th home run.

Gibson had skied a fly ball to left in the first inning.

"We knew that she threw inside and that was her go-to pitch," Gibson said. "So, I was really looking inside. And I felt I just missed that one. So my second at-bat, I went up with that same mentality - looking for inside pitches."

Gibson was able to extend her hands, lofting the ball into the protective screen behind the left-field fence.

That was more than enough for fellow All-American Amanda Scarborough, who tossed a three-hitter, striking out eight.

The junior right-hander frustrated the Gators, who were 0 of 7 with runners in scoring position with five strikeouts.

Scarborough was at her best in the sixth, which was the Gators' best chance.

Scarborough had breezed through the first five innings allowing only one hit, but Hilberth and Waleszonia singled, and Lauren Roussell sacrificed the runners up.

A&M intentionally walked Melissa Zick to load the bases.

Scarborough fell behind cleanup hitter Ali Gardiner, who sharply grounded a full-count pitch to the right of shortstop Morrow, who threw home flat-footed for a force out.

"I told our kids in the postgame that could have been the biggest key in the game," Evans said. "For Morrow to make that play, and have the presence of mind to know she could get that runner at home [was big]. When she first made the play, I thought we didn't have a chance and she was going to go to third. [But] she's got a gun. She just made a great play. I thought that was difference-maker, when you can get out without them scoring a run."

Scarborough then struck out Mary Ratliff to end the inning and Florida went down in order in the seventh.

The partisan crowd was one its feet much of the sixth and seventh, cheering on Scarborough's key pitches.

"To be able to bear down in that situation, is critical," Evans said. "Not to feel pressure, but to say, 'I will control the at-bat.'

"And I think that's what you saw [from Scarborough] when they got the bases loaded. She controlled the at-bats."

Scarborough said Florida's first two hitters in the sixth hit good pitches, but she wasn't about to give in and give the others anything good.

"Melissa Zick is their best hitter and we said that we weren't going to let her beat us today," Scarborough said. "With that base open we just went ahead and put her on first. I got behind [the next hitter] and I really had to bear down. I was not going to walk in a run. I did that against Nebraska [ in the Big 12 Tournament] and I wasn't going to let that happen again."

Scarborough, 25-7, has not allowed a run in 17 innings.

"I think the difference was, obviously they got a couple timely hits and their pitcher really was in a groove from the beginning and didn't really fall out of the groove," Florida coach Tim Walton said.

Meanwhile his pitcher, Nelson (33-14), had her scoreless streak stopped at 20 2/3 innings.

The 19th-ranked Gators (49-21) making their first Super Regional appearance, will have win two consecutive games in that atmosphere to reach the WCWS for the first time.

"Wow, what a crowd," Walton said. "It was pretty intense. It was a good atmosphere."

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NOTES - Game 2 will be 1 p.m. Saturday with Game 3, if needed, to follow. ... A&M junior third baseman Jamie Hinshaw extended her career-best hitting streak to 10 games. ... Florida stole two bases, while A&M was unsuccessful on its lone attempt. Gator catchers have thrown out 21 runners. ... The Aggies had six singles along with Gibson's homer. Nelson allowed only six singles last weekend in three games. ... Nelson had a 23-inning scoreless streak before LSU scored in the 10th inning for a 1-0 victory on May 12. ... A&M center fielder Sharonda McDonald, who was 12 for 16 last weekend, was hitless in three at-bats. ... The A&M crowd applauded the grounds crew for putting the tarp on the infield, and taking it off as Steve Miller, A&M director of events, gave the grounds crew a hand.