Clemson’s softball team is streaking into the ACC Tournament on the strength of its work in the circle.
The Tigers’ pitching staff has statistically been the best in the league this season. Clemson (37-14) enters the postseason with a 1.77 earned run average – a full tenth of a point better than Duke, which has the next-highest team ERA at 1.82. Only two other ACC teams, Florida State (1.85) and regular-season champ Virginia Tech (1.92), possess sub-2 ERAs.
Clemson is led by its top three arms, all of which own an ERA of 1.83 or lower. Valerie Cagle has been the workhorse for the Tigers with a team-high 28 appearances, going 13-7 in 22 starts during the regular season. The right-hander has recorded 160 strikeouts in 134 innings.
Millie Thompson (12-3) and Regan Spencer (6-2) have been just as effective in the circle. Thompson owns a 1.68 ERA while limiting opponents to a .218 average in 22 appearances. Meanwhile, Spencer has been perhaps the Tigers’ most consistent pitcher in her 59 innings of work. Spencer has a team-best 1.07 ERA while opponents are hitting just .209 against the sophomore right-hander.
The staff’s latest gem came in Clemson’s regular-season finale against Georgia Tech over the weekend. Spencer took a perfect game into the fifth inning before a leadoff walk sparked a two-run inning for the Yellow Jackets that tied the game. But Spencer finished the frame before Thompson worked two innings of scoreless relief, setting the stage for the Tigers’ walk-off victory in extras.
“Just so proud of our pitching staff,” Clemson coach John Rittman said afterward. “(Assistant) coach (Kyle) Jamieson does a great job with them. They’ve been phenomenal, and they just keep getting better as the season goes on.”
Clemson has yielded four runs or less in seven of its last 10 conference games and hasn’t allowed more than two runs during its four-game winning streak, momentum the Tigers will try to keep going as the No. 5 seed in the ACC Tournament. The tournament is slated to begin May 11 in Pittsburgh.
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