A&M legend Amanda Scarborough on the call for Austin Super Regional

Former Texas A&M All-American Amanda Scarborough will be on the call in Austin this weekend as the Aggies battle archrival Texas in a super regional. On Thursday morning, Scarborough joined TexAgs Radio to preview a premier best-of-three series.

Key notes from Amanda Scarborough interview

• I am looking forward to this weekend.
   
• Two things: This will be my second Texas A&M super regional that I get to call. The first one was in 2018 when the Aggies played Florida. It was in Gainesville, and A&M won the first game. It went to Game 3, and there were the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve as A&M got walked off on. If I can handle that super regional and all the emotions that came with it, it has prepared me for any other game that I could call.
   
• After that, I’ve called so many Texas games since the beginning of the Longhorn Network. I’ve seen them so much that it feels natural to be around their program. The professionalism of my job takes over as I just want to be the best, regardless of who is playing.
   
• I think that the way that A&M’s offense came out in the third game of the Bryan-College Station Regional was probably the highlight. We know the offense can score seven or eight runs in five innings. We know they’re capable. Eight runs in a game against a top-ten team ERA is a lofty goal, but A&M seeing good pitching in the SEC has caused some ups and downs. To see them end the regional by really squaring up the ball and hitting some home runs sticks out.
   
• Emiley Kennedy shut out the same team twice in one weekend, and it was a Texas State team that had already seen her earlier in the season. That is not easy to do, especially with how good of a team Texas State was. You cannot say enough about Kennedy’s performance.
   
• I like A&M’s lineup, with Kennedy Powell and Koko Wooley at the top of the order. They switched it around at the SEC Tournament because Powell was so hot. She had a great game and was the spark at the bottom of the lineup vs. South Carolina, so Trisha Ford put her at the top against Florida. It’s a weird thing around the country where nobody wants to bat leadoff. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve seen a lot of different leadoff hitters as teams try to find that player that wants to be up there. Powell did a great job, and those two have so much speed. They can beat you in so many different ways in how they get an offense going.
   
• Ford and her staff put a chip on their players’ shoulders. They want to light a fire and give you an extra reason to win as if winning isn’t enough. I think this series should be interesting.
   
• Obviously, A&M wants to win this series, but in No. 1 vs. No. 16, all of the pressure is on Texas, in my opinion. If you’re the No. 1 seed, there is added pressure and more eyes on you. They’re expected to make it to the Women’s College World Series, but if you’re A&M and you get to Oklahoma City, that is the icing on the cake of Ford’s second year of turning around this program. A&M should not have a lot of pressure and should play free and loose to see how far it takes them.
   
• What is different about Texas this year is the hitting and pitching. They have a lot of different looks in the circle, which is unique to them. A&M is going to ride Kennedy to the end, and we might see her three times in a three-game series. Texas has three different starters, and they’re all three different looks. It’s a unique baseball feel. At the same time, maybe you like having an ace to rely on. It’s just two different ways to look at it. Texas’ offense is scoring the most runs per game in the country. They hit doubles. They have speed. They’re hitting .385 as a team to lead the country. In the stats, where they may be more vulnerable compared to A&M is the defense. That’s where A&M could apply more pressure and force Texas to make defensive mistakes.
   
• This is the standard with Ford. This is what she wants. This is why she was brought in. This is what she expects. To be a national seed in her second year is huge. To be in the super regionals is massive. You are one of the final 16 teams. To do what she has done to put A&M on the national scene in the top-25 rankings last year and now getting to super regionals is huge. The program is getting a ton of attention. They’re making a lot of noise.
   
• Oklahoma and Florida State is a rematch of last year’s championship series. Both teams have won national championships in the last five years. These are recent heavyweights going at it. Florida State’s pitching has not been great, but their offense has been stellar. If they want a chance against Oklahoma, they will have to out-slug them. Oklahoma, compared to the last few years, only scored 16 runs in regionals this year. They’ve been scoring 35-50 runs in three games. Oklahoma hasn’t been as strong, but they are still the standard in our sport.
   
• Alabama-Tennessee is all about pitching. They have two of the best pitching staffs in the country and the SEC. I expect that super regional to be low-scoring games with great pitching. It’s a rivalry that’s similar to A&M and Texas.