Latest news with #ClemsonSoftball
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How Clemson softball's eighth inning put Women's College World Series bid on hold
Clemson softball was 60 feet away from making a trip to Oklahoma City for its first Women's College World Series. Marian Collins and Taylor Pipkins both hit no-out singles in the eighth inning, then advanced to third and second base, respectively, after a wild pitch. But Clemson's offense stalled, putting that coveted flight on pause, as Kylee Johnson struck out, Jamison Brockenbrough lined out and Alex Brown grounded out to end the inning in heartbreaking fashion Advertisement "There's so many ways you can score from third base, and you're hoping that one of three hitters gets the job done there," Clemson coach John Rittman said. " . . . It's just unfortunate we couldn't get it in, but that's softball." The lull led to No. 11 overall seed Clemson's 7-5 loss on May 23 to No. 6 Texas in Game 2 of the Austin Super Regional at Red and Charline McCombs Field. The Longhorns (50-12) forced a winner-take-all Game 3 on May 24 (9 p.m. ET). The moment was tailor-made for Clemson (48-13), but it could not capitalize. The Longhorns had no answer for closer Brooke McCubbin, who entered in the fifth, allowing two runs in the inning, but held them scoreless the next three innings, including a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and eighth. Still, Johnson, Brockenbrough and Brown did not attempt to bunt and could not put the ball in play deep enough to send Collins home for the winning run, which would have been Clemson's 12th walk-off win this season and its second straight upset win in Austin. Advertisement "We certainly had opportunities, you're this close and you gotta be able to put the nail in the coffin, and we didn't do that tonight," Rittman said. "Against a good Texas team, you're going to pay the price for that." The bill came due for Clemson as Texas ace pitcher Teagan Kavan, who entered in relief in the fourth inning, developed immense confidence. After escaping the eighth-inning jam, she proceeded to record three strikeouts, force two flyouts and a fielder's choice and allow two base hits and a walk in the final two innings to keep Clemson scoreless. Clemson had 13 hits but left 11 runners on base and was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and 4-for-19 with runners on. As Clemson's offense stalled, Texas' came alive in the 10th inning, getting after McCubbin as she exceeded 100 pitches. She allowed a leadoff single, and a second player got on base thanks to a fielding error by Collins. A sacrifice bunt advanced both, and Kaydee Bennett's RBI sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run. Advertisement Clemson had its chance to finish off Texas for good, but its miscues snapped its 11-game winning streak and has given the Longhorns life. Now, the Tigers will play in the biggest game in the program's six years of existence for the right to go to the Women's College World Series. "I told them, 'Listen, in February, when we were 3-6, if you said we can be in Texas, and we can play one game to see who goes to the World Series, would you guys take it?' and they all agreed," Rittman said. Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@ and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00 This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson softball: How Tigers blew opportunity to make WCWS vs Texas
Associated Press
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Texas scores two runs in the 10th to edge Clemson 7-5 to force deciding game in Super Regional
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Leighann Good had three hits and two runs batted in, Teagan Kavan threw five-plus shutout innings in relief and Texas forced a deciding third game in the Austin Super Regional with a 7-5 win in 10 innings on Friday night. Kavan (24-5) allowed five hits and a walk while striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. Clemson drew a two-out walk and followed with a single by Jamison Brockenbrough before getting a game-ending force out at third. Game 3 is Saturday night. Katie Stewart opened the top of the 10th with a single to right and Goode followed with a tough-hop error on the shortstop. Katie Cimusz had a sacrifice bunt and Kaydee Bennett followed with sacrifice fly to leftfield to break the tie, Ashton Maloney plated an insurance run beating out an infield single with Goode scoring from second. Maloney had three hits for Texas (50-11). Goode and Atwood homered. Maddie Moore had three RBI and a home run for Clemson (48-13) and Julia Knowler had three hits. Macey Cintron also had a home run. Brooke McCubbin (18-6) threw six innings of relief and took the loss. Both teams had 13 hits and left 11 on base. Clemson opened the bottom of the eight with a pair of singles and the runners advanced on a wild pitch but a strikeout, a liner to shortstop and a ground out to third ended the threat. Mia Scott had a two-out triple for Texas in the top of the ninth. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Pipkins two-run blast helps send 11th-ranked Clemson past Kentucky to Super Regional
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Freshman Taylor Pipkins hit a two-run homer and Marian Collins went 3-for-3 at the plate and No. 11 Clemson eliminated Kentucky with a 5-1 win in the Clemson Regional on Sunday. First baseman Julia Knowler doubled home Alex Brown in the third inning for a 1-0 Clemson lead. In the third, Pipkins barely cleared the wall at 230 feet for a 3-0 advantage. Maddie Moore added an RBI double in the inning for a four-run lead. Reese Basinger (17-5) picked up the win for Clemson (47-12), allowing one unearned run on six hits in 5 ⅓ innings pitched. Carson Falls (6-9) took the loss for the Wildcats (31-28). It is the third Super Regional appearance for Clemson, which didn't start playing softball until 2020. The Tigers were swept in their two other Super Regional appearances in 2022 and 2023. Clemson will be on the road for the Super Regional to face Texas. The Longhorns defeated Central Florida on Sunday to win the Austin Regional. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Clemson squeezes past Northwestern 1-0 in 9 innings to reach regional final
CLEMSON, S.C. (Clemson SID) – Senior catcher Aby Vieira hit her first triple of the season down the right field line in the ninth inning and then scored on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from freshman Marian Collins to lift 11-seed Clemson (46-12) to a 1-0 win over Northwestern (30-19-1) in the NCAA Tournament at McWhorter Stadium. Clemson, which played as the designated visitor for the contest, did not commit an error in tying its longest NCAA game in its five tournament appearances. Clemson pitchers Reese Basinger and Brooke McCubbin combined to allow just four hits and one walk in 9.0 innings. McCubbin (18-4) earned the win, going 5.2 innings in relief, and getting the game's final out on a strikeout, her second of the game. Northwestern's Lauren Boyd (15-5), a second-team All-Big Ten performer, went the distance for the Wildcats, throwing 150 pitches and striking out nine. The Tigers will face the winner of tonight's elimination game between Northwestern and the winner of Kentucky/USC Upstate on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Northwestern strung together the first two consecutive hits by either program in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. With runners on first and third, the Tigers turned to relief pitcher McCubbin for the final two outs. McCubbin needed only four pitches for a pop-up and a groundout that forced the Wildcats to leave two stranded. Clemson's first two runners got on in the top of the fifth on an error and a single from Collins, but Northwestern swiftly ended the threat with a triple play, catching Taylor Pipkins's line drive to shortstop, and getting both runners before they could return to their respective bases. The Tigers threatened again in the sixth, this time with two outs as Alex Brown drew a walk and Maddie Moore hit an infield single to short. Julia Knowler lifted a fly ball to the deepest part of the park, but it was caught on the warning track to end the inning. Just one pitch later in the bottom half of the inning, it was Kylee Johnson making a catch up against the left field wall off the bat of Avvisado. McCubbin retired the next two batters to move on to the seventh. For the second consecutive inning, Clemson's first two batters were retired, but the Tigers came close to breaking through. After Collins worked a walk, Pipkins singled to left and Johnson singled to short to load the bases with two out. Jamison Brockenbrough hit a 3-1 pitch toward the gap, but the ball hung up long enough to be caught and send the game to the bottom of the seventh. Northwestern's leadoff hitter reached on a single up the middle and she was bunted over. McCubbin then induced a fly ball to left, and a foul out. The final out came on a spectacular diving play by the third baseman Brown, who made the catch just inches from the Northwestern dugout. Vieira tripled down the right field line, her first of the season, with one out in the ninth. Collins dropped a bunt just out in front of the plate to score Vieira, and beat out the throw at first, to give Clemson a 1-0 lead. McCubbin allowed a single with one out in the ninth, but caught an infield pop-up and struck out the game's final batter to secure the win and advance the Tigers to their fourth regional championship game in program history. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kylee Johnson hits 3-run HR to lead 11-seed Clemson to a 10-2 win over USC Upstate in 5 innings in NCAA softball tournament opener
CLEMSON, S.C. (Clemson SID) – The 11th-seeded Clemson Softball team broke open a 2-2 ball game with three runs in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to secure a 10-2 run-rule victory over USC Upstate in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at McWhorter Stadium. ACC Champion Clemson, ranked 13th nationally, improved to 45-12 on the season, while Upstate fell to 39-15. Kylee Johnson hit a three-run fourth-inning home run to give Clemson a 5-2 lead, a game after hitting the go-ahead home run in the ACC Championship game the previous Sunday. In the fifth inning, four consecutive Tigers earned RBI hits, including freshman Taylor Pipkins, who knocked in the final of three consecutive doubles to walk it off for the Tigers. Freshman Marian Collins went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in as Clemson totaled ten hits. Despite the Tigers getting on the board first off an RBI single by Collins in the second, USC Upstate responded with two runs in the top of the third to take the lead. With two outs in the third, Alex Brown drew her second walk of the day to put a runner on for Maddie Moore to drive her 11th and team's 95th double off the left center fence to even things at 2-2. This was Moore's 65th RBI of the year and Brown's 64th run – both of which are single-season program records. Following the day, Clemson has 98 doubles on the season. Clemson claimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth on Johnson's home run that came after an Aby Vieira walk, a Collins single, and a Pipkins fielder's choice. In the fifth inning, Clemson's bats again came alive with Moore and Kennedy Ariail on-base, Macey Cintron singled to center to bring in Moore. Vieira followed with her 17th double of the year, scoring Ariail. Ava Wilson came on to run for Cintron and was promptly sent home along with Vieira on Collins's double. Pipkins ended it with a double to score Collins. Senior Reese Basinger made her first NCAA Regional start in the circle. She pitched 2.1 innings before senior Brooke McCubbin entered in relief, going the final 2.2 innings to improve to 17-5 on the year. Up Next The Tigers return to McWhorter Stadium on Saturday, May 17 where they will take on Northwestern. First pitch is slated for 1:30 p.m. The winner of that contest will play Sunday at 1 p.m., while the loser will play at 6:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
