Tigers Win Two to Open Clemson Classic
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Clemson Softball team captured one-rule victories against both Elon, 4-3, and Villanova, 1-0 (8), to start the Clemson Classic 2-0. The two wins move the Tigers to 7-6 on the year and 3-0 at home, while Elon drops to 3-7, and Villanova falls to 5-5.
The Tigers were powered by freshman pitcher Macey Cintron and senior pitcher Reese Basinger in both games. Cintron finished the day with 10 strikeouts against Elon - a career-high, while Basinger struck out eight against Villanova - one shy of her season high.
Game 1 (W) - Clemson 4 - Elon 3
Clemson was playing catchup from the get-go, as Elon took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and the next batter sent a home run out of left.
The Tigers evened things at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning after loading the bases. Senior Aby Vieira led off with a single through the left side and was joined on the bases by freshmen Ava Wilson and Marian Collins, who got on off a single and a walk, respectively. It was a single by Jamison Brockenbrough that evened things after she ripped a single up the middle to score two runners.
The Phoenix reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth with a single, sac bunt and RBI double into right center. This held until Clemson answered in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, its first of the day.
In the sixth, Wilson led off with her second single of the game and was replaced by Kennedy Ariail, who advanced to second as Collins drew her second walk of the game. Brockenbrough loaded the bases with a walk, and Maddie Moore brought Ariail and Collins home on a single into center field to give the Tigers the 4-3 lead. Clemson’s defense closed out the game with a three-up, three-down inning that included Cintron picking up her ninth and 10th strikeouts to secure the victory.
Throughout the game, Cintron threw 100 pitches through her 7.0 innings. Both her innings pitched and 10 strikeouts mark the most for the freshman to date. Additional highs included Moore extending her reached base streak to 29 games with her single in the sixth, and Julia Knowler tied her career-high with two walks.
Game 2 (W) - Clemson 1 - Villanova 0
A pitcher’s duel broke out in game two of the day as neither team struck through the first five innings of play. For the Tigers, Basinger had seven strikeouts in that time while only allowing three hits, and the Clemson defense had turned one double play to close out an inning.
The sixth inning continued to be dominated by the pitchers and defense, as Knowler tracked a ball into foul territory for an out, Alex Brown caught a pop-up and Basinger struck out her eighth batter to end the top half of the inning. Villanova responded with a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the sixth, and the Tigers repeated this in the top of the seventh. Moore came close to capitalizing in the seventh with a long ball that fell just short of a home run that led to the second extra inning game for the Tigers this season.
With a runner placed on second following international tiebreaker rules, Villanova advanced the runner to third on a groundout, but she was left stranded as Collins made a backhanded grab at shortstop and a Basinger forced a flyout to left to end the inning.
The Tigers wasted no time earning the walk-off win as Moore was placed on second since she was the final out of the seventh inning. Needing only two pitches, Knowler came up with the RBI single through the right side to score Moore from second and capture the 1-0 victory.
Up Next
The Tigers continue action at the Clemson Classic on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. against Marshall. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX and serve as the final game of the round-robin tournament before designations are set for Sunday’s games.