Clemson softball held on to just its second conference win of the season Friday night against Louisville at McWhorter Stadium.
Thanks to some late-inning heroics from Valerie Cagle and the pitching of Millie Thompson, Clemson (20-9, 2-5 ACC) moved past Louisville for a 5-2 win.
Cagle was due.
Clemson’s designated player drove a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line in the bottom of the sixth inning. Cagle’s two-run single scored both Maddie Moore and McKenzie Clark to give Clemson a 4-2 lead.
Moore, who came into the game hitting just .163, got the rally started in the home half of the sixth inning. The freshman third baseman, who hails from Loomis (Calif.) narrowly missed her second career home run, as she rifled a double just off the wall in right-center field.
Moore advanced to third with just one out and after McKenzie Clark worked a walk and then stole second. The Tigers scored three runs in the sixth to secure the lead and eventually the win.
Millie Thompson made her eighth start of the season Friday and doing so, pitched her third complete game to date. Thompson (6-1) struck out the side in the top of the first inning, notching her 50th strikeout of the season in the process. She went on to strike out nine batters in seven innings.
The left-handed sophomore out of Bedford (Va.) went seven innings and allowed just two runs on four hits. She was pitching an absolute gem until the top of the fifth inning when Louisville’s Carmyn Greenwood took her deep. The senior left fielder’s eighth home run of the season gave the Cardinals a 2-1 run lead.
While the Tigers were eventually able to claw back, the offense got off to another slow start. Prior to Friday’s contest, Clemson had hit a bit of an offensive rut — scoring just three runs in the past two games — which carried over as they kicked off this weekend’s homestand against Louisville.
Clemson was able to get its first run on the board in the home half of the fourth inning, thanks to Sam Russ.
After walking and stealing second — her 13th stolen base of the season — Russ scampered home on an error. Those defensive miscues continued for Louisville as right fielder Vanessa Miller dropped a fly ball on the warning track, allowing Alia Logoleo to reach base and pinch-runner, Carlee Shannon, to advance to second.
Two batters later, Miller made a diving catch in foul territory to end the threat as Clemson left two runners on base. Leaving runners on base became a common theme for the Tigers Friday, until the sixth inning, of course.
After back-to-back losses, Clemson was able to notch an important victory over Louisville Friday. The Tigers will try to win the series Saturday against Louisville with the first pitch at 5 p.m. at McWhorter Stadium.
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