John Rittman – Page 4 – Syndication Server

Clemson softball pacing ACC in this area entering postseason

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 …

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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No. 18 Tigers’ shutout Yellow Jackets 3-0, secure the series

Following the win on Friday in game one over the Yellow Jackets, Clemson secured the series with a 3-0 shutout win on Saturday afternoon at McWhorter Stadium. It all came down to the first inning of play, where the Tigers saw a stellar defensive performance following what could have been two costly fielding errors along with two back-to-back doubles in the bottom half of the inning from Cammy Pereira and McKenzie Clark that put Clemson on the board first.

Clemson ace Valerie Cagle earns the win in the circle, recording ten strikeouts and the complete game in her fourteenth win of the season. Righthander Blake Neleman tallied the loss for Georgia Tech.

Clemson got the scoring started in the first. Following what could have been two costly errors in the first, the Tigers came out hot with two back-to-back doubles from Pereira and Clark to give Clemson the 1-0 lead. Shortly after with runners on second and third, Marissa Guimbarda launched a sac-fly out to left field to score Clark, giving the Tigers the 2-0 lead after one.

After four scoreless innings, Clemson struck yet again in the fifth. With bases loaded and one out, Guimbarda was hit by a pitch, bringing in Arielle Oda from third and extending the Tiger’s lead for a final score of 3-0.

Next up, Clemson faces Georgia Tech on Sunday, May 1, for their third and final game of the series at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson. First pitch is scheduled for noon on RSN. The Tigers are set to open up post-season play in the ACC tournament later this month.

Clemson softball bounces back with midweek win

After falling victim to a series sweep for just the second time this season this past weekend, Clemson was looking for redemption against East Tennessee State on Wednesday. The Buccaneers came into the game 6-41 while the Tigers came in 33-14. …

Clemson got it with a 6-2 win at McWhorter Stadium.

Right-hander Brooke McCubbin (5-2) got the start in the circle for the Tigers. The game was off to a fast start when ETSU designated player Sara Muir hit a homer to left field with Andrea Sarhatt on first base, giving the Buccaneers an early 2-0 lead.

The Tigers answered when Marissa Guimbarda stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second base. Guimbarda hit a bomb out to center to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead heading into the second inning.

This was Guimbarda’s 11th home run of this season and the 58th of her career as a Tiger.

The streak continued for Clemson’s offense when pinch-runner Carlee Shannon stole second and advanced to third following a throwing error by Buccaneers catcher Amber Atkins. Cammy Pereira then hit a triple to center that advanced Shannon and Arielle Oda home to extend the Tigers’ lead to 5-2.

In the beginning of the third, the Tigers made a pitching change and brought in left-hander Millie Thompson. Thompson allowed only two hits and got the win in the circle, improving to 10-2.

With a runner on second and two outs, Valerie Cagle hit an RBI double to right-center field scoring Maddie Moore and extending the Tigers’ lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fourth. This lead would stay for the rest of the game.

This was Cagle’s 36th RBI of the season.

“Very impressed with our pitching staff,” Clemson coach John Rittman said. “Brooke came out and gave up two runs early but loved the way our offense bounced back and had her back. Then Millie and Regan (Spencer) came in as relief and pretty much shut down their offense. This was a nice win to get us ready for a big weekend series against Georgia Tech”.

The Tigers are back in action at McWhorter Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m. to face Georgia Tech.

Pitching igniting Clemson softball’s late-season surge

With a 19-9 record that included just one ACC win, Clemson’s softball team was struggling to live up to its billing as a preseason top-15 team heading into the last week of March. Things have changed for the Tigers since then. Fresh off a series win …

With a 19-9 record that included just one ACC win, Clemson’s softball team was struggling to live up to its billing as a preseason top-15 team heading into the last week of March.

Things have changed for the Tigers since then.

Fresh off a series win over No. 21 Notre Dame, Clemson has won 14 of its last 16 games. That stretch has included 11 consecutive wins that began with a victory over South Carolina on March 30, and Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Fighting Irish gave Clemson its third straight ACC series win.

It has helped vault the Tigers (33-11, 11-7 ACC) to fifth place in the ACC standings, just two games back in the loss column of third-place Florida State ahead of the teams’ series in Tallahassee next weekend. It may be difficult for the Tigers to catch Virginia Tech and Duke – teams that are a combined 5-1 against Clemson this season – atop the standings with just two series left before next month’s ACC Tournament, but their hot streak has given them a shot at a second straight top-3 finish after winning their first-ever regular-season conference title a season ago.

It’s been the work in the circle that’s ignited Clemson’s late-season resurgence.

With two-way All-American candidate Valerie Cagle (1.96 earned run average), Millie Thompson (1.61) and Regan Spencer (1.03) pitching most of the innings, Clemson has limited teams to just 2.06 runs per game since a 5-2 win over Louisville on March 25. The Tigers haven’t yielded more than five runs in a game since, and four of the Tigers’ wins during that stretch have been shutouts.

That’s dropped the team’s ERA to 1.80 on the season, second-lowest in the ACC.

“I can’t say enough about our pitching staff,” Clemson coach John Rittman said.

Cagle didn’t have her sharpest outing Saturday in the series clincher against Notre Dame, but the sophomore right-hander still limited the Fighting Irish to just one run on nine hits in 4 ⅓ innings. Spencer polished off the victory with 2 ⅔ innings of three-hit relief.

“Certainly we didn’t hit the ball like we’re capable of, but credit goes to their pitching staff,” Rittman said. “They kept us off balance all weekend, but we found ways to win two out of three games.”

Cagle went the distance in the Tigers’ 3-2 victory to start the series Thursday, and Thompson was saddled with the tough-luck loss Friday after yielding just two earned runs in six innings. The Tigers failed to muster a hit in the 4-0 loss and needed Cammy Pereira’s walk-off single to squeak out Saturday’s win, but the pitching is keeping Clemson in games as the Tigers wait for more consistent offense to come around.

“(Notre Dame) put a lot of pressure on us and on our defense,” Rittman said. “Valerie gave us all she had, and then Regan stepped in and just did a tremendous job to keep it at 1-1. Got out of some tough situations. Just really proud of Regan and how she’s grown and developed as a pitcher.”

Clemson’s series at Florida State will begin Thursday. The Tigers will close out the regular season with four games the following week, including a weekend home series against Georgia Tech.

Clemson softball learning ‘we always have to be on our A-game’

While Clemson softball coach John Rittman believes his team has gotten used to going from the hunter to the hunted, some of his players think the Tigers are still working through the process. “Last year, we kind of snuck up on people a little bit,” …

While Clemson softball coach John Rittman believes his team has gotten used to going from the hunter to the hunted, some of his players think the Tigers are still working through the process.

“Last year, we kind of snuck up on people a little bit,” center fielder McKenzie Clark said. “Now we’re not doing that as much, which I don’t mind at all. I like the competition. I like the fight. We just need to start executing a little bit more.”

Last year is a reference to Clemson’s ACC regular-season championship season, which firmly put Rittman’s program on the college softball map in just the second year of its existence. With the Tigers now getting everyone’s best shot, their title defense has gotten off to a slow start.

Clemson (21-10 overall) is just 3-6 in conference play through its first three ACC series, though the slate certainly hasn’t lacked for meat on the bone. The Tigers were swept at home by a top-10 Virginia Tech team to start the month and dropped two of three at Duke, another legitimate conference contender.

Clemson, which also lost by a run at Georgia last week and fell in extras to Louisville at home its last time out Sunday, has lost four of its last seven games after an 18-6 start that included a win over Washington, another top-10 team.

“Definitely our schedule has challenged us,” Rittman said. “We’ve played a very tough schedule, and we’ve lost some close games. And (Sunday) was another one where we still gave ourselves a chance in the seventh inning with the winning run at the plate. As a coach, that’s really all you can ask for in your team.”

Clemson did pick up its first league series win against Louisville, outscoring the Cardinals 13-2 in the first two games. The Tigers looked primed to do one better in Sunday’s series finale, controlling the game through the first four innings. But much like its midweek loss to Georgia, an early two-run lead evaporated as Clemson’s offense struggled to get out of first gear.

The Tigers mustered just six hits against Louisville right-hander Taylor Roby, who went the distance to notch the win. Camryn Greenwood’s two-run, opposite-field homer in the eighth made for the winning separation in a game in which Clemson hit just 3 of 15 with runners on and 2 of 11 with runners in scoring position.

Some of those were tough-luck outs on balls that were hit directly at the Cardinals, but Clemson’s batters also put themselves in plenty of adverse situations by being passive and falling behind in counts. Being more aggressive is something Clark said the offense has to work on as a whole.

“Jumping on the good pitches,” said Clark, who had two of Clemson’s hits, including an RBI single. “Even though we had established the strike zone later in the game, just getting on top of those good pitches. Whether it’s the first pitch or second pitch, it doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to be ready.”

Through the first three conference series, Rittman said he’s learned his team’s pitching and defense are good enough to win games. Star sophomore Valerie Cagle (2.35 earned run average) is the headliner, but right-hander Regan Spencer, who hurled five innings of two-run ball Sunday, leads the Tigers with a 0.77 ERA in 36 ⅓ innings.

Sophomore Millie Thompson has also given Clemson a lift in the circle, posting a 1.57 ERA in 13 appearances (eight starts). Meanwhile, the Tigers’ defense had just one error in the Louisville series and has gone 11 straight games without committing multiple errors.

“The biggest thing now is getting the timely hits and building off this series win for next week,” Rittman said.

That starts Wednesday with a home game against rival South Carolina. Then it’s off to North Carolina on Friday to begin a three-game series against the Tar Heels.

They are Clemson’s latest opportunities to implement the biggest lesson it’s learned so far if the Tigers are going to make a late-season push to get back in the conference title race.

“We always have to be on our A-game,” Clark said.

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Clemson softball moves past Liberty in walk-off fashion

Clemson softball (16-6) walked off with an extra-innings win over Liberty at McWhorter Stadium in the third game of the Tiger Invitational. Following a win earlier on Sunday against Illinois the Tigers were hoping to finish the day 2-0 with a win …

Clemson softball (16-6) walked off with an extra-innings win over Liberty at McWhorter Stadium in the third game of the Tiger Invitational.

Following a win earlier on Sunday against Illinois the Tigers were hoping to finish the day 2-0 with a win over the Liberty Flames. This was the teams’ first match-up of the Tiger Invitational. The Flames came into the game winless on the weekend, after they suffered two losses to Illinois earlier in the weekend.

Kyah Keller’s pinch-hit two-run single capped off a 5-4 win for the Tigers.

Led by Sam Russ (1-2) and Marissa Gumibarda (2-4), Clemson pounded out 10 hits in its latest win.

“Every win is special,” Clemson softball head coach John Rittman said postgame. “We are still such a young program-its a milestone that means a lot to our program because we have really been a winning program since day one. We continue to grow, we continue to improve, our leadership, our culture is great and that’s what means more to me than anything on the field.”

In the bottom of the first, Russ hit a bomb to right field — her first home run as a Tiger — to give Clemson an early 1-0 lead.

“It felt great, I was going up there just free-swinging, and she happened to come in on me which is my favorite- I was excited for that, and I just put a good swing on it,” Russ said following Clemson’s win over Liberty.

Clemson dealt with some defensive woes, which enabled the Flames to jump out to a 3-1 lead. The Tigers made a pitching change in the top of the fifth, bringing in right-hander Brooke McCubbin.

Behind McCubbin (3-1), Clemson’s defense was able to keep the Flames from adding any more to their lead, but could not capitalize on offense.

In the bottom of the sixth, Guimbarda hit a double to right-center field giving the Tigers a much-needed momentum shift. Arielle Oda came in to pinch run for Guimbarda. Bailey Taylor later hit a single to center field that advanced Oda home and narrowed Liberty’s lead 3-2.

McCubbin shut down Liberty’s offense in the top of the 7th allowing only 1 hit and striking out 2 hitters.

Valerie Cagle does what she does best, in what was a time of need for the Tigers.

In the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, Cagle hit a single to left-field, which advanced Russ home to tie the game.

In the top of the eighth, Courtney Poulich was placed on second for the Flames due to the International Tiebreaker rules used in tournament play. K.C. Machado’s sacrifice-fly scored Pulich, which gave Liberty a 4-3 leading heading into the bottom of the inning.

With two outs and two runners on bases, Keller stepped up at-bat as a pinch hitter for Maddie Moore.

Keller hit a single up the middle bringing two runners home to give the Tigers a narrow victory over the Liberty Flames by a score of 5-4 and ended a great day at McWhorter Stadium.

Clemson finishes out play in the final game of the Tiger Invitational on Monday, March 14th at 4 p.m.

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Clemson shuts out Illinois behind Thompson’s dominant outing

Clemson was able to continue its winning streak with a 4-0 win over Illinois on Sunday, which was also marked as the 100th game in program history for the Tigers. Left-hander Millie Thompson came out strong with four strikeouts and only allowed two …

Clemson was able to continue its winning streak with a 4-0 win over Illinois on Sunday, which was also marked as the 100th game in program history for the Tigers.

Left-hander Millie Thompson came out strong with four strikeouts and only allowed two hits in the first 3 innings against Illinois. Thompson would continue to shut down the Illinois offense throughout the game.

She finished Sunday’s contest with 11 strikeouts over seven innings. Thompson gave up five hits — including just one extra-base hit — and didn’t allow any runs to pass.

In the bottom of the second, Bailey Taylor hit an RBI up the middle to advance Cammy Pereira home to put the Tigers up 1-0.

In the bottom of the third Clemson advanced their lead when Marissa Guimbarda came up to bat with two runners on second and third. Guimbarda hit a bomb out to centerfield that flew over the fence bringing the lead to 4-0.

That was Guimbarda’s fifth home run of the season.

In the top of the sixth inning, Thompson recorded her strikeout No. 10 and her 37 overall of the season. She finished off the game allowing no runs which was the first complete-game shutout of her career with the Tigers.

Clemson will be going directly into their first match-up against Liberty of the Tiger Invitational at 3 pm.

This win made Head Coach, John Rittman, the winningest current head coach in the first 100 games of a program at Clemson, and advances the Tigers record to 15-6 on the season.

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Cagle throws complete game en route to 3-1 win over Illinois

Seventeenth-ranked Clemson defeated Illinois 3-1 Saturday afternoon at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson in their first of two meetings this weekend with the Illini in the Tiger Invitational. It all came down to a big first inning for the Tigers, who …

Following today’s win, the Tigers are now 7-0 in games where they score in the first inning and have scored 18 runs in the first so far in 2022.

Clemson ace Valerie Cagle earns the win in the circle, throwing a complete game and improving to 6-4 on the season. Left-hander Tori McQueen suffers the loss for Illinois.

The Tigers got on the board quickly in the first inning. With bases loaded, Periera hit a two-RBI single to left field, bringing in McKenzie Clark and Sam Russ to give the Tigers the 2-0 lead after one.

Clemson struck yet again in the fourth. With a runner at second, infielder Kyah Keller came in clutch with an RBI single to left center to extend the Tiger’s lead to 3-0.

Illinois chipped away at Clemson’s lead in the fifth, scoring a run off of an RBI single by Illini right-fielder Danielle Davis, but it proved to not be enough. Clemson outlasted Illinois with a final score of 3-1.

With the win over the Illini, Clemson improves to 14-6 on the season.

Clemson resumes play in the Tiger Invitational Sunday, March 13, with games against Illinois and Liberty at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively on ACCNX.

Clemson Softball Week 4 in review: Tigers drop three amidst first ACC matchup

Clemson softball entered its fourth week of competition coming off of a strong showing at the Clemson Classic with five wins in the book and being named tournament champs. The Tigers started off the week strong with a more-than-convincing win over the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, but into the team’s first ACC series matchup of the season against a top-10 opponent in Virginia Tech, Clemson struggled to manufacture runs along with some costly errors, ultimately dropping its first series of the season.

“It was a tough weekend, but there was a lot we can learn,” head coach John Rittman said following Sunday’s loss. “There were a lot of positives. When you play a schedule as tough as ours and you learn from your losses, it is going to bode well for you. I liked the way we competed and pitched. We made a few defensive mistakes over the course of the three games that hurt us. Without these mistakes, it would have been a very evenly matched series. We are a young program that continues to fight and battle and will learn from these games moving forward.”

The Tigers opened up play last week with a mid-week matchup on Tuesday at McWhorter Stadium, where they faced Gardner-Webb. Redshirt sophomore Valerie Cagle and graduate Marissa Guimbarda hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to earn Clemson the 6-0 shutout win over the Bulldogs. Regan Spencer earned the win, improving to 3-0 on the season in the circle for the Tigers.

With her home run on Tuesday, Guimbarda improved to 52 career home runs which situates the Georgia native within the top five on the NCAA active player list for most career home runs.

On Friday, Clemson opened up its first ACC weekend matchup of the season with No. 6 Virginia Tech at McWhorter Stadium. What began as a battle of the aces in the circle between Cagle and Keely Rochard quickly came to a close in the fourth inning once the Hokies got the bats rolling, scoring six runs. The Tigers tried to put together a rally both in the fifth and seventh, but ultimately fell short by a score of 6-1.

Cagle took the loss in the circle with four strikeouts through 3.0 innings. Virginia Tech’s Rochard earned the win for the Hokies.

In game two, Clemson dropped its second game of the weekend series on Saturday by a score of 4-0. Errors proved to be costly for the Tigers, having three of the four opposing runs scored unearned. Millie Thompson started in the circle for the Tigers, pitching three innings and picking up two strikeouts. With the loss, Thompson moved to 2-1 on the year.

Sunday’s series finale began as a rematch of Friday’s pitching face-off between Cagle and Rochard, both of whom kept the game scoreless through five innings of play.

Virginia Tech took the lead for good in the sixth, scoring three of its four runs thanks to a three-run homer to center field by Morgan Overaitis. Clemson looked to respond with runs scored in the sixth and seventh, but that proved not enough. Clemson succumbed to the series sweep in game three by a score of 4-2.

Cagle took the loss, pitching 6.1 innings, shifting to 5-4 on the season in the circle. Rochard earned the win along with freshman Emma Lemley, who tabbed the save for the Hokies.

The Tigers (12-6 overall, 0-3 ACC) look to bounce back this week, hosting Mercer for a mid-week matchup on Wednesday, March 9, at McWhorter Stadium with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Later in the week, Clemson will host yet another tournament this weekend at McWhorter Stadium with opponents in Liberty and Illinois. The Tigers open up play at the Tiger Invitational on Saturday, March 12, versus Liberty. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on ACCNX.

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Bats stay quiet as Clemson softball drops series to Virginia Tech

After seven straight wins, the Clemson softball team suffered a tough loss on Friday night at home in their ACC-opening series against the Virginia Tech Hokies by a score of 6-1. On Saturday, the Tigers dropped the series with a 4-0 loss. The Hokies …

The Hokies came into this series 11-3 on the season while the Tigers came in 12-3. The Tigers were looking to get some redemption in Game 2 at McWhorter Stadium.

It was a slow start for the Tigers after the Hokies came in with lots of momentum Saturday. In the top of the first inning, there were two errors made by the Tigers that resulted in the Hokies taking an early lead of 2-0 that proved costly for the Tigers.

“We made some early mistakes that Virginia Tech was able to capitalize on,” said Clemson coach John Rittman. “When you’re facing a tough pitching staff, it’s hard to get behind early in the game.”

In the top of the second, the Tigers starting catcher, Aby Vieira, was injured after making contact with Jayme Bailey of the Hokies while tagging her out. JoJo Hyatt was moved to aid the Tigers at catcher after Vieira was assisted off the field. There has been no update currently on Vieria’s injury.

The Tigers continued to struggle going into the top of the third. Kelsey Bennett hit a single to right field, advancing Emma Ritter home for the Hokies to give them a 3-0 lead.

Later in the top of the fifth, the Hokies scored again after Bennett singled to right field and Emma Ritter advanced home after an error by the catcher. It was Ritter’s third run of the game for Tech.

The Tigers struggled on offense on Friday and Saturday with seven total hits between the two days. There were no runs for either team in the final two innings of the game, leaving the final score of 4-0. If the Tigers want a chance at a win Sunday, they need to come out ready to fight against the top-10 program of Virginia Tech.

The teams will finish up the series back at McWhorter Stadium at noon Sunday.

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