Clemson has no problems against Kentucky to win Regional, advance to Super Regional
The Tigers capped off an unbeaten run through the Clemson Regional with a 5-1 win over Kentucky on Sunday at McWhorter Stadium. With the victory, Clemson secured its third NCAA Regional title in five seasons and will now travel to Austin for a showdown against No. 6 national seed Texas next weekend.
Key contributions came from both familiar faces and a rising freshman. Taylor Pipkins delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon in the fourth inning, blasting a two-run homer to left-center that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and gave Clemson a three-run cushion. The Tigers never looked back.
Earlier, Clemson got on the board in the third after Julia Knowler drove in Alex Brown with a double to left-center. Brown had sparked the rally with a leadoff single and showed off her speed throughout the day, scoring twice—including on a Maddie Moore RBI double down the right-field line later in the fourth inning that stretched the lead to 4-0.
Reese Basinger earned the win in the circle, limiting Kentucky to one run over 5.2 innings. The senior allowed six hits, struck out three, and walked just one to move to 17-5 on the season. After Kentucky cut the lead to 4-1 and brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth, Clemson turned to Brooke McCubbin, who calmly closed the door. She struck out Ella Emmert to end the threat and went on to earn her fourth save of the year.
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Clemson tacked on one more run in the seventh, wrapping up a complete team win and a regional sweep that included victories over USC Upstate, Northwestern, and Kentucky.
Now sitting at 47-12, the Tigers are preparing for their third-ever Super Regional appearance in program history. The trip to Texas will be a best-of-three format, with the winner advancing to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series.
After winning the ACC Tournament last week and dominating their regional this weekend, Clemson is playing some of its best softball of the year—and they're not ready to slow down yet.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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