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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