By ROBERT CESSNAOKLAHOMA CITY -- Megan Gibson keeps getting better, if that's possible.
Gibson (32-1) pitched a pair of gems Saturday to lead the Texas A&M softball team into the Big 12 tournament's championship game. The senior right-hander allowed two hits in a 1-0 victory over Iowa State on Saturday afternoon, then tossed a five-hitter in a 3-1 victory over Texas.
The top-seeded Aggies (48-7) will meet 10th-seeded Nebraska at noon Sunday for the Big 12's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Nebraska (25-27) shocked second-seeded Oklahoma 6-5, then polished off sixth-seeded Texas Tech 6-1. It's the first time in the 13-year history of the tournament the 10th seed has reached the title game.
Gibson made sure things went as expected in A&M's half of the bracket and showed why she was the first to win the league's player and pitcher of the year awards in the same year in the process.
Gibson struck out 10 in each game, not allowing a walk. It was the first time she threw two games in the same day in her collegiate career.
"I think after awhile, it's just adrenaline and focus," said Gibson, who afterward had two massive ice packs on her throwing arm. "You have to stay focused every single pitch. I thought about using my legs a lot more than my arm, because my arm gets tired after awhile."
Gibson made things easy on herself by facing more than four batters in an inning only once on the day. That happened in the fifth against Texas (28-21-2).
Shelby Savony's two-out double scored Kori Cook, making it 2-1. But Desiree Williams struck out looking on a nasty change-up.
UT never threatened again in losing for the third straight time this season to Gibson. The Longhorns managed only 11 hits in 21 innings against her, with 29 strikeouts and two walks.
Saturday night, frustrated Longhorn batters couldn't lay off her change-up or pull the trigger.
"I think it helps knowing those hitters a lot," Gibson said. "I think I threw it a lot more today, because they weren't expecting it as much. I think it really kept them off-balance."
She had to go to the pitch early because of a leadoff wind-blown double. Desiree William's pop-up to left field landed in short left-center field thanks to winds at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium gusting up to 35 mph.
Gibson caught a weak pop-up and struck out the next two hitters to put UT batters on the defensive from the get-go.
A&M batters didn't exactly pound the ball, but struck out only four times in the two games, often making hard outs.
A&M, maybe showing a little rust after not playing for nine days, managed only seven hits in two games, but two home runs gave Gibson the support she needed.
Holly Ridley hit a fourth-inning, opposite-field homer over the right-field fence against ISU (29-29).
Freshman Rhiannon Kliesing added a booming two-run homer against Texas in the third inning. The 5-foot-9 leadoff hitter turned on an off-speed drop from Megan Denny (20-9) and lined it well over the right-field fence.
Denny had just walked freshman Kelsey Spittler on four pitches.
"I was kinda expecting it, because I hadn't been doing very well on her inside pitches," Kliesing said. "I just really saw it well that time, and made the most of it."
A&M made the most of four hits against Denny by adding an insurance run in the sixth.
Erin Glasco singled in Jamie Hinshaw, who did a good job of getting in the vision of shortstop Loryn Johnson, who whiffed on Glasco's hard grounder into center field.
Hinshaw also had three assists at third base as fifth-ranked A&M played its season-high eighth straight game without an error.
"I love the way we're playing," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "We're very focused and very loose. Defensively, we look sharp. We're doing the things we need to do. We're just doing those small things that championship teams do."
This is only the second time the Aggies have played for the Big 12 tournament title. Nebraska pinned a 2-1 loss on A&M in 2000.
Nebraska was 4-14 in league play, while A&M was 17-1.
A&M will pitch Gibson again in the title game. She barely let the wind mess with her hair as she needed only 78 minutes to beat Iowa State.
Gibson allowed only two hits, but one almost tied the game. Ariel Coburn doubled off the bottom of the 5-foot fence in straightaway center field with two outs in the seventh.
"Other than that, she was spot on," Evans said.
Gibson ended the game with her 10th strikeout of the game. She needed only 85 pitches, 67 of them strikes to frustrate a Cyclone offense that hit a school-record 38 home runs.
The only other ISU runner to reach was Sydni Jones, who singled with one out in the fifth.
A&M's defense got Gibson out of the inning. First Kliesing fielded a sharply hit ball to her left and the left-hander aggressively threw out Jones at second. Hinshaw retired the next batter with a nifty backhanded grab.
Gibson and her defense had to be sharp to beat Iowa State right-hander Rachel Zabriskie, who allowed only three hits. Zabriskie threw a complete game a the 10-inning, 6-4 victory over Baylor on Friday.
Zabriskie (15-14) walked one and struck out one. A&M had only one other runner in scoring position, Glasco, who doubled with one out in the second.
NOTES -- A&M's victory over ISU was the first by a higher seed at the tournament in five games. ... A&M left fielder Spittler wore a special faceguard on her batting helmet to protect an injured cheek, but went back to a conventional helmet when she reached base. A batted ball hit her during practice before the Aggies left for Oklahoma City. ... Texas advanced by beating Oklahoma State 4-3 in nine innings on Kacie Gaskin's walk-off sacrifice fly. Gaskin, a former A&M Consolidated standout, was 0 for 4 before that. Gaskin hit a line drive off the right-field fence against Gibson in the seventh for a single, but was retired on a game-ending double play. ... Gibson didn't mind the layoff. "I think it was good to have days off," said Gibson, who along with Kliesing threw live during intrasquad scrimmages. "It wasn't like I was off, I was pretty much throwing every day."
• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
TEXAS A&M SOFTBALL
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
OKLAHOMA CITY
SATURDAY'S GAMES: Texas A&M 1, Iowa State 0; Texas A&M 3, Texas 1
SUNDAY'S GAME: Texas A&M vs. Nebraska, championship game, noon
TV/RADIO: FSN, Ch. 25/KZNE, 1150 AM
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