Clarks' Homers Lead Tigers to 12-0 Victory

Senior McKenzie Clark hit two home runs, and the Tigers put up 12 hits and scored 12 runs to propel No. 10/11 Clemson to a 12-0 victory against Fordham on Sunday afternoon to conclude the Tiger Invitational. The 12-0 win marks the fifth shutout of the season and moves Clemson to 17-6.

Clemson was led at the plate by Clark who went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Joining her with multiple hits were redshirt senior Alia Logoleo and junior Alex Brown, who both clocked two hits and one RBI. Brown scored three runs, while Logoleo scored twice. Additional hits came from freshman Kylee Johnson, who also had two RBIs, Arielle Oda, Kennedy Ariail, Abi Stuart, Maddie Moore and Valerie Cagle.

In the circle, Regan Spencer earned her third win of 2024 behind 6.1 innings of work with four strikeouts. Freshman Olivia Duncan appeared in her second game of the weekend, picking up the final two outs of the game, and Brooke McCubbin threw 16 pitches to open the game.

As the designated visitors, the Tigers opened up scoring in the top of the first inning as Brown was plated off of Logoleo’s two-out double into deep left-center field. Brown put herself into scoring position after she stole second and advanced to third off of a passed ball. Moore then singled to left-center to score Logoleo for her 15th RBI of the season to give Clemson a 2-0 lead.

McCubbin started in the circle and threw 16 pitches, but after Fordham loaded the bases with no outs following a walk and two singles, the Tigers made the decision to give the ball to Spencer. Clemson’s defense turned its fifth double play of the season as the next batter hit a bouncer back to Spencer in the circle. Spencer made the throw home, and Aby Vieira turned two by making the throw to first for the out. Spencer closed out the inning with a strikeout by getting the Ram’s batter looking to keep things 2-0 in Clemson’s favor.

The Tigers found their stride at the plate with two outs in the top of the third to score an additional three runs for a 5-0 lead. Logoleo tallied her second hit of the day with a single to right field, and Vieira joined her by drawing a walk. Both advanced into scoring position on a passed ball that allowed Johnson to notch a two-RBI double off the right-center fence. Johnson came home on an RBI single from Stuart to mark Stuart’s first RBI of 2024.

Cagle added an insurance run for the Tigers in the fifth with an RBI single to score Brown, who walked, to make it 6-0. In the bottom half of the inning, Fordham got two runners on, but Logoleo got the Tigers out of the inning with a catch at shortstop to force the Rams to leave them stranded. Clark tallied her first hit of the day with a solo shot in the top of the sixth to make it 7-0 for the Tigers.

Clemson’s offense once again went to work at the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh. After Vieira was hit by a pitch and Marena Knowles, who was pinch hitting for Stuart, drew a walk, Ariail tallied her first collegiate hit with an RBI single to right center to score Haylee Whitesides, who was running for Vieira. Brown followed with her own RBI single to right field to score Riley Burton, who was running for Knowles. With two on and two out, Clark sent her second home run of the day 258 feet out of left field for a three-run shot to make it 12-0. The Tiger defense would hold off a late attempt from the Rams in the bottom half of the inning to secure the shutout victory.

Up Next
Clemson Softball continues its homestand with a midweek game on Wednesday, March 13, against Gardner-Webb. The Tigers and Runnin’ Bulldogs are slated for first pitch on ACCNX at 6 p.m.