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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