By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

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The Texas A&M softball team has two special days planned this weekend against Kansas as the Aggies look to close in on the Big 12 championship and a high seed for the NCAA Tournament.

A&M has invited back its All-Americans for Saturday's 2 p.m. game at the Aggie Softball Complex, while it will be Senior Day at noon Sunday.

"It's going to be a great weekend," A&M head coach Jo Evans said.

Fourth-ranked A&M (40-7, 12-1 Big 12) has a 2 1/2 -game lead on Oklahoma (35-11, 8-2) for first place in the Big 12 standings. The Aggies, who also own the tiebreaker over the Sooners, have only five league games left.

The Aggies will be at last-place Nebraska (17-21, 1-8) next weekend for two games, then close out the regular season with a single game against fourth-place Texas (23-16-2, 7-5) on April 30.

A&M is coming off a split at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. The Aggies lost the opener 6-5, which snapped a 26-game winning streak by senior right-hander Megan Gibson. A&M rebounded for a 4-3 victory in Game 2.

Sixth-place KU (30-13, 4-6) could present just as stiff a challenge as fifth-place OSU (22-20, 5-5).

The Jayhawks were 38th in the NCAA softball's RPI after last weekend's games, which was fourth in the league behind No. 5 A&M, No. 12 OU and No. 22 Missouri (39-12, 6-4). OSU's RPI was 79th.

"Kansas is a good ballclub," Evans said.

A&M bashed the Jayhawks last season 7-0 and 13-0, but two years ago the Aggies eked out a pair of one-run victories.

NOTES -- Seniors who will be honored Sunday are pitchers Megan Gibson and Amanda Scarborough, center fielder Jamie Lobpries, third baseman Jamie Hinshaw and manager Jessica Kaiser. Scarborough, who is out with a season-ending injury, might return for another season, but that won't be decided until next fall. ... Sunday's game will be televised on Cox Sports Television. ... OU has a tougher closing schedule than A&M. The Sooners have road series at Iowa State and Baylor and will host Texas with a split series left against OSU.

• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.

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