Tag: John Rittman

Tigers enjoying every moment ahead of first-ever super regional

Clemson softball has reached a monumental milestone in the history of its program, advancing to the Super Regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. With game one against No. 7-seed Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. …

Clemson softball has reached a monumental milestone in the history of its program, advancing to the Super Regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. With game one against No. 7-seed Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. slated for Thursday, May 26, the Tigers have a lot to look forward to as first pitch looms closer.

“Definitely really excited to be apart of Super Regionals, especially here in Stillwater,” head coach John Rittman said on Wednesday. “Very proud of our team and the effort that it’s taken to get this far in the NCAA tournament. We’ve had a great year; we’ve played a really tough schedule to prepare us for this moment and looking forward to a great series against a great Oklahoma State team.”

For a team that is in just its second full season, Clemson’s softball program has already seen a high level of success, highlighted by an ACC regular season championship in 2021, reaching the NCAA regionals two years in a row, hosting the first NCAA regional at McWhorter Stadium, two 40-win seasons, and now reaching the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time ever – something head coach John Rittman couldn’t have dreamed up any other way.

“There are times when we have to pinch ourselves and make sure this is really happening,” Rittman said. “Certainly no one could predict success as quick as we’ve had it, but we’ve worked really hard, we have a great group of players, a great culture, and a lot of credit goes to our team. They’ve just really worked hard and believed. We’re here and excited about it.”

For junior Alia Logoleo, the opportunity to play in games like these is exactly what drew her to Clemson in the first place. And while she didn’t think their success would come so quick, Logoleo is thankful that she chose to become a Tiger just three short years ago.

“This is what I came to college to do,” Logoleo said. “I was recruited by coach Rittman, and I trusted him to build this program and make it what it is today. I didn’t think it would be this fast, but this is definitely what I came here for, these are the games I wanted to play.”

With another first on the line in what could be the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth, Rittman is confident that his team will continue to compete and be successful at the highest level when it matters most.

“We’ve watched Oklahoma State, obviously a lot of exposure in our sport, so we’ve been able to watch on TV and certainly paid close attention to their series with Florida State because we were scouting Florida State at the time,” Rittman said. “They are a well-coached team, great pitching depth, play outstanding defense, and they hit the ball well. I think they’re a lot like us where offensively they struggled a little bit at times during the year, but they’re peaking at the right time.”

The tenth-seeded Tigers (42-15) look to keep their postseason journey alive as they take on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (44-12) in game one of the three-game series on Thursday, May 26, at Cowgirl Stadium. First pitch is set for 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

More strong pitching helps Clemson reach ‘another stepping stone in our growth’

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 …

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.”

Twitter reacts: Clemson shuts out Louisiana, advances to super regionals

Clemson softball is headed to super regionals for the first time in program history, and here’s how Twitter reacted to the news.

Clemson softball is headed to super regionals for the first time in program history following an 8-0 shutout against Louisiana at McWhorter Stadium on Sunday

After getting out to an early 1-0 lead, Clemson’s bats came alive in the fourth inning. Highlighted by Valerie Cagle’s three-RBI homer, the Tigers scored seven runs in the fourth off six hits and two home runs, ultimately making a Louisiana comeback insurmountable and ending the game in five.

Batting first in the order, Clemson second baseman Cammy Pereira finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate. Meanwhile, Millie Thompson delivered another impressive performance in the circle, throwing a five-inning shutout with five strikeouts while allowing just one hit.

“There’s just so much to be proud of,” said head coach John Rittman. “To win a regional championship in our third year of existence is just mind-blowing. It’s just a credit to our administration, President Clements, our athletic director Graham Neff, everybody who’s been involved in our program.”

In Clemson’s three games in regionals, the Tigers didn’t allow a single run, outscoring their opponents 18-0.

With the victory, Clemson will either travel to No. 7 seed Oklahoma State or host North Texas in super regionals.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Clemson softball making history.

Tigers dominate in historic 8-0 shutout win over Louisiana

Clemson made history in Sunday’s 8-0 run-rule win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, winning its first-ever NCAA regional to advance to Super Regional play for the first time in program history and doing so on their home turf. The Tigers got the …

Clemson made history in Sunday’s 8-0 run-rule win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, winning its first-ever NCAA regional to advance to Super Regional play for the first time in program history and doing so on their home turf. The Tigers got the scoring started early in the first, but it all came down to a huge fourth inning where Clemson scored seven runs off of six hits, six of which were with two outs, highlighted by homers from Aby Vieira and Valerie Cagle.

Lefthander Millie Thompson earned her second win and shutout of the weekend in Sunday’s win. Louisiana’s Meghan Schorman takes the loss for the Rajun’ Cajuns.

With the 8-0 victory on Sunday, the Tigers completed their third shutout in a row, advancing to the Super Regionals and staying in the hunt for a College World Series birth in Oklahoma City.

Cammy Pereira led things off for the Tigers in the first with a clutch single up the middle with a 3-2 count. Cagle came up big a few batters later with an RBI single to score Pereira and give Clemson the early 1-0 lead after one.

Following a scoreless second and third inning, the Tigers broke the game open in the fourth. With one out, Vieira doubled the Tigers lead to 2-0 with a no-doubter to centerfield, her fifth home run of the year. Alia Logoleo quickly followed suit with a single to shortstop that was later brought in by Maddie Moore’s RBI double. Following a Louisiana pitching change, Pereira struck yet again for the Tigers, this time with a two-RBI single to left. Cagle was the real hero though, launching her 13th homer of the year to right field, tacking on three more runs for a score of 8-0 through four innings.

The Tigers came away with the 8-0 run-rule victory and shutout on Sunday improving to 41-14 overall and advancing to the program’s first-ever Super Regional next weekend. NCAA Super Regionals will take place May 26-29 with locations and opponents to be announced later this week.

Rittman, Cagle, Guimbarda postgame after win over Auburn

Clemson head coach John Rittman, Valerie Cagle and Marissa Guimbarda talk about the 1-0 win over Auburn. Cagle pitches a four-hit shutout and scored the only run of the game. Guimbarda hit the only RBI of the game. Watch the postgame on TCITV:

Clemson head coach John Rittman, Valerie Cagle and Marissa Guimbarda talk about the 1-0 win over Auburn.

Cagle pitches a four-hit shutout and scored the only run of the game.  Guimbarda hit the only RBI of the game.

Watch the postgame on TCITV:

Thompson ‘Millie Rockin’ her way into Clemson record books

In a history-filled weekend with McWhorter Stadium playing host to the programs first-ever NCAA regional, pitcher Millie Thompson added her own name to the Clemson record books on Friday. In her 17 th start and 14th win of the 2022 season versus UNC …

In a history-filled weekend with McWhorter Stadium playing host to the programs first-ever NCAA regional, pitcher Millie Thompson added her own name to the Clemson record books on Friday. In her 17th start and 14th win of the 2022 season versus UNC Wilmington, the lefthander recorded the first post-season no-hitter in Clemson softball program history en route to a 9-0 shutout victory over the Seahawks, a memory her team won’t soon forget.

“Millie, just an outstanding job in the circle,” third-year head coach John Rittman said. “I mean, anytime you throw a no-hitter, it’s special, but to do it in post-season… I think we’ll all remember that for the rest of our lives.”

The emotions were high for the sophomore, who knew she was contending for the no-hitter, but Thompson kept her composure up until the final pitch. For Thompson, the support she has from both her teammates and coaches is what makes this team and moment so special.

“I was trying not to think about it at the beginning, but it was just a total team thing, like they said, the defense was great,” the sophomore said. “I think I’m going to remember that the most is just how special the support I have from this team and the coaches and from the players… I think that’s what I’ll remember the most.”

While the Virginia-native was also in line for a perfect game, she gave up two hit batters in the second and third innings. Despite this, Thompson took it as a learning experience and is focused on preparing herself for the next opponent rather than perfecting her stat line.

“Yeah, I think I was working on things as well, I was working on going in,” Thompson said. “I know I have to throw in and out against Auburn and Louisiana, so I just wanted to work on that and unfortunately, I hit a few people, but it’ll prepare me for the next day.”

Thompson is known for her wicked changeup and Friday was no different. Facing just sixteen batters in her five innings of work, the sophomore delivered just 49 pitches in the shutout win and historic no-hitter.

“I don’t honestly know how I throw it; I just throw it,” Thompson said about her changeup. “Today, I had one that was a strike and one that was biting low and it kind of changes, which is tough sometimes, but I just know that I’m comfortable with it. I’m gonna throw it in any count and any situation.”

That level of confidence and energy is what Rittman knows Thompson brings both inside and outside the circle to this team. As long as she settles in and makes adjustments as needed, Rittman is confident Thompson will continue to excel for the Tigers moving forward.

“It’s pretty filthy when it’s on and certainly today when she’s throwing it at two different locations, it’s extremely tough and you saw the Wilmington hitters were pretty baffled with it today,” Rittman said regarding Millie’s changeup. “I think the biggest key with Millie is she just can’t overthrow, and we have a couple of sayings with her, queues that keep her kind of focused and one of them is ‘less is more’. She gets out there and tries to throw 90 sometimes, adrenalines flowing, and if she can just settle in and get into the game. […] “You just holler at her a couple of times, she picks it up, and makes adjustments really quick and that’s why she’s so effective and such a good pitcher.”

Clemson continues play this weekend in their home NCAA regional with games on Saturday and Sunday at McWhorter Stadium.

Twitter reacts: Clemson dominates in home regional opener

Here’s how social media reacted to Clemson softball’s run-rule victory over UNC Wilmington in regional play.

Clemson softball had no problem on Friday advancing to the winner’s bracket of regional play in the NCAA Tournament, blowing out UNC Wilmington.

In the 9-0 run-rule victory over the Seahawks, the Tigers got out to an early lead in the first inning. Led by shortstop Alia Logoelo, who had a two-run homer in the inning, Clemson had six runs and five hits in the first. In the past four games, Logoleo has batted .538 and has had eight combined RBIs and four home runs. She finished 1-3 against the Seahawks.

Center fielder McKenzie Clark also had a strong performance, going 3-for-3 at the plate.

Meanwhile, Clemson pitcher Millie Thompson had her second no-hitter this season, finishing with four strikeouts in her five innings pitched.

With the help of Thomspon, Clark and Logoleo, among others, the Tigers advanced to the winner’s bracket of the Clemson Regional. They will play the winner of Aubrun and Lousiana at McWhorter Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Clemson’s dominant game one performance.

Tigers leave no doubt in 9-0 victory over Seahawks

Following a heartbreaking loss in the ACC Championship last weekend, Clemson came into Friday’s game leaving absolutely no doubt versus the visiting UNC Wilmington Seahawks. The Tigers shot ahead early on in the first, scoring six runs on five hits, …

Following a heartbreaking loss in the ACC Championship last weekend, Clemson came into Friday’s game leaving absolutely no doubt versus the visiting UNC Wilmington Seahawks. The Tigers shot ahead early on in the first, scoring six runs on five hits, highlighted by Alia Logoleo’s two-run homer to left and two costly errors by the Seahawks, good for the eventual 9-0 shutout victory.

Lefthander Millie Thompson earned the win in the circle for the Tigers, throwing a no-hitter and complete game in her 14th win of the season. Seahawks starter Emily Winstead tallied the loss for UNC Wilmington.

After a clutch 1-2-3 inning for Clemson’s starter Thompson in the top of the first, the Tigers came out big. With a back-to-back single and RBI double from Cammy Pereira and McKenzie Clark respectively, Aby Vieira singled down the right-field line to score Clark and double the score 2-0. Directly following, Logoleo sent a ball to deep left field for her 15th homer of the year, scoring Clark and extending the lead to 4-0. Later on in the inning, the Tigers scored two more runs off of two errors, giving Clemson the 6-0 lead after one.

Following a scoreless second inning, the Tigers struck yet again in the third. With runners on second and third and one out, Pereira grounded out to short, but scored outfielder Sam Russ in the process. Clark followed suit soon after with an RBI double to center to score Maddie Moore from third to stretch the lead to 8-0 through three innings.

Clemson extended their lead once again in the fourth. With a runner on third and one out, Logoleo grounded out to SS, scoring pinch runner Carlee Shannon. The Tigers led 9-0 after four.

The Tigers were able to get the job done in just five innings of work, run-ruling the Seahawks and earning the 9-0 win on Friday.

Clemson takes the field once again on Saturday, May 21, and will face the winner of game two, either Louisiana or Auburn, in game three. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson.

Family connection makes Clemson Regional even more special for Russ

Sam Russ has never played in the postseason. That’s why she came to Clemson. As the Tigers are set to host the first-ever Clemson Regional this weekend, it’s even more special for Russ and her family. Her father, Frank, was a starter on the first …

Sam Russ has never played in the postseason.

That’s why she came to Clemson.

As the Tigers are set to host the first-ever Clemson Regional this weekend, it’s even more special for Russ and her family. Her father, Frank, was a starter on the first Clemson baseball team to host a regional in 1980.

“It’s so exciting,” Sam said. “The fact that he got to host Clemson’s baseball’s first-ever regional and then I get to host Clemson’s softball’s first-ever regional, is so exciting. My mom also went here, so I grew up a huge fan of Clemson and going to all the football games growing up. It was always my dream school, so it’s so exciting to get to come back here and play for my last year.”

“I did not know about her dad.” Clemson coach John Rittman said Thursday. It’s a situation with the transfer portal, names get in the portal and you start doing research…Obviously, there was a connection there and we have an MBA program and that’s what Sam wanted to study and earn her master’s degree.”

Rittman said that Clemson knew that Sam was a terrific player because they played against her last year when she was still at N.C. State and they knew what she was capable of.

“She’s fast, can steal bases, hit for power, hit for average and cover a lot of ground in the outfield,” Rittman added. “It was a great fit for our program and luckily she chose Clemson to work on her masters and play that extra year.”

This season, Sam leads the ACC with a program-record 25 stolen bases.

“At one point I was hitting behind her and it was awesome,” redshirt sophomore infielder Alia Logoleo said. “She would get on first and I knew that first pitch, she’s on second. So, it was really kind of stress off your shoulders because you know if she gets on base, she’s taking that next one almost automatic.”

The process of getting into Clemson wasn’t as quick as she is.

Sam had to get accepted into the MBA program at Clemson before the Tigers could officially sign her.

“The MBA program here at Clemson is huge, especially for internship opportunities,” she said, “and that’s what I was looking to do. Their admissions process was still open, so it really kind of fit perfectly into what I was looking for.”

Shortly after entering the transfer portal, Sam got a call from a phone number she didn’t recognize.

“Obviously, I was very excited when I picked up the phone and saw that it was him on the line and that they were potentially looking for an outfielder for the season,” Sam said. “It was really just my dream school calling me.”

When Sam informed her dad of her decision to attend Clemson for her final season of eligibility, Frank was “over the moon.”

Funny enough, they were on a father-daughter trip to the College World Series. That’s when she called Rittman to confirm that she would be spending her final season in Tiger Town.

The rest is history.

Five years of collegiate softball under her belt and Sam will finally have the chance to play in the postseason starting Friday,

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.

Clemson softball ‘coming out with fire,’ hopes to ‘put on a great show’ in first-ever Clemson Regional

Clemson softball will go about its routine similarly this weekend. By this point, everyone knows that this won’t just be any ordinary series at McWhorter Stadium this weekend. The Tigers, the 10th overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, will …

Clemson softball will go about its routine similarly this weekend. 

By this point, everyone knows that this won’t just be any ordinary series at McWhorter Stadium this weekend.

The Tigers, the 10th overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, will start what they hope is the road to the Women’s College World Series on Friday when they host UNC Wilmington in the first-ever Clemson Regional.

“Obviously, we’re super excited to be hosting our first-ever NCAA regional,” Clemson coach John Rittman told reporters Thursday. “Our team has worked extremely hard for this opportunity. Our coaches, our staff, we just want to put on a great show for our fans…This is a great opportunity for us as  a young program to showcase not only our team but our facility, the fans and our great community here at Clemson.”

Rittman has been preparing his team for this moment, in hopes that it would help give his team a sense of the rigors that a tough postseason provides.

The Tigers ran the gauntlet of the ACC during the regular season, as well as the conference tournament, but they also had a harder strength of schedule this season by design.

“It’s nothing new,” two-way player Valerie Cagle said. “Yeah, we’re gonna see good hitters and these teams are good, but it’s something that we’ve been preparing for all year. Last year, we were close to hosting and we went to that regional, but the main reason we weren’t able to host is because we didn’t have a hard enough schedule and we didn’t have those top wins. Really just focusing on doing that this year, so that we could use the talent we have and build off of that to have the opportunity that we have now.”

“We knew that this year was going to be way harder,” redshirt sophomore infielder Alia Logoleo said, “but it was just going to prepare us for this moment. Rittman said all year long that they can’t dock us on the teams we’ve played like they did last year. And we’re ready and we’re coming out with fire.”

Clemson now knows after last year — no matter who its opponent is — the Tigers have to bring their A-game.

What a difference a year makes.

“It feels amazing,” Logoleo said. “One, just being able to give our seniors another day here to play in front of the fans and we got a lot of experience last year playing at Alabama — their fans are insane, they go crazy every play. But now, we’re cheering for us and we’re super excited to have our fans behind us.”

“I think the obvious difference is we have a year of experience,” Rittman said. “Last year, our entire roster, it was their first time competing in the postseason. Now that we’ve been to two ACC tournaments, we were in the Tuscaloosa Regional last year, obviously. We have a sense of what it’s gonna be like and the competition level and just the oddities of the NCAA tournament.

“I think the biggest thing is this time of year, we’ve earned the right to be here. We earned the right to be the No. 1 seed and now it’s about staying focused on what we can control, which is the game and making sure we’re limiting the distractions.”

As of Thursday afternoon, Rittman hadn’t yet decided who would be starting for Clemson in the circle for Friday’s regional against UNC Wilmington. Rittman views the first game against the Seahawks as Clemson’s most important game and said that the Tigers would make the rest of their pitching decisions from there.

“Pitching depth is huge,” Rittman said. “Anytime that you can utilize a staff, especially with some of the powerful offenses that we have here. All the teams hit the ball pretty well and if you look at the home runs and the batting averages, it’s gonna be some fierce competition.”

Clemson will rely on the likes of Cagle (15-8) and Millie Thomspon (13-3), as well as Regan Spencer (6-2) and Brooke McCubbin (5-2) this weekend. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better pitching duo than Cagle and Howard, who are polar opposites personality-wise but are both masters of their craft in the circle.

In 30 appearances (24 starts), Cagle struck out 166 batters in 146.2 innings pitched with a 2.05 ERA, while Howard struck out 99 batters in 103.1 innings pitched and maintained an impressive 1.69 ERA.

“Millie, she’s been such a valuable asset to our program this year,” Rittman said. “We feel like we have two No. 1s in Valerie and Millie. Both two different types of pitchers compliment each other very well. It’s a nice luxury to have. We got to look at the matchups a little bit more.”

Rittman and his staff will make that consequential decision Thursday afternoon.

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.