Clemson’s softball team has had one of the strongest pitching staffs in the ACC throughout the season, but the Tigers took it to another level during the Clemson Regional.
Now they’re just two wins away from their first-ever Women’s College Series appearance.
“Another stepping stone in our growth,” Clemson coach John Rittman said following the Tigers’ regional-clinching victory over Louisiana on Sunday.
Clemson (42-15) won different ways to accomplish the feat, combining to score 18 runs in its three regional games. But as has been the case for most of the season, the Tigers’ work in the circle was the constant.
This time, it was nearly flawless.
Clemson, which leads the ACC with a sub-1.8 earned run average, won those three games by an average of six runs because the Tigers didn’t allow one all weekend. It’s the first time all season Clemson has pitched three consecutive shutouts.
“You’re going to win when you give up zero runs,” said Rittman, who couldn’t help but chuckle at the obvious.
The Tigers started it with a run-rule victory against UNC Wilmington and ended it the same way against Louisiana. Sophomore left-hander Millie Thompson went the distance in both, hurling a no-hitter against Wilmington. Only a hit batter kept Thompson from notching a perfect game.
After the Tigers edged Auburn in Saturday’s winner’s bracket, Rittman had a choice to make Sunday: Stick with right-hander Valerie Cagle (16-8, 1.96 ERA) or go back to Thompson (14-3, 1.61), who was rested after watching Saturday’s win from the dugout.
Rittman said he went with Thompson in part because she was the fresher of the two but also because of how aggressive Louisiana’s offense was. Rittman and Thompson both believed her changeup would work well against that, an intuition that proved to be right as Thompson yielded just one hit and struck out five in the Tigers’ 8-0 win.
“I felt like they were trying to hit home runs and see how far the ball could go, and that’s who I love to pitch against,” Thompson said. “I felt really comfortable (Sunday) with my changeup, going away and seeing if they would pull. And it worked out.”
Thompson was rested because of the work Cagle did Saturday in what was easily Clemson’s stiffest test of the weekend. Auburn countered with an ace of its own in All-SEC right-hander Maddie Penta, who silenced the Tigers’ bats to the tune of three hits and six strikeouts in six innings. Clemson was hitless until a two-out double in the fourth from Cagle, who scored on Marissa Guimbarda’s bloop single.
But Cagle hurled a four-hit shutout to notch the victory, doing some of her best work late with Auburn threatening. She wiggled out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the sixth and finished with six punchouts.
“That’s a situation I’ve been in a lot,” Cagle said. “So it’s just kind of remembering I’ve gotten out of those situations before and just not really trying to make the moment bigger than it is.”
For the weekend, Clemson allowed five hits and issued just one walk while recording 15 strikeouts in 17 innings. Rittman said there’s plenty of credit to go around for what continues to be an elite season in the circle for the Tigers, who will start super regional play at Oklahoma State on Thursday.
“I think (assistant) coach (Kyle) Jamieson deserves a lot of credit. He calls a great game and works his but off with our pitchers,” Rittman said. “I’m so proud of our pitching staff. We’ve seen so much growth over the last two years with our pitching staff. Sometimes they make it look real easy, but it’s a lot of work.”
