No. 20 Tigers bounce back, snap No. 11 Duke's 20-game streak

After taking the loss in two games Friday, Cagle bounced back with a 2-run home run and a win Saturday. (ACC file photo)

by Zachary Wagner - Correspondent - Sat Mar 27 14:57:43 GMT-04:00 2021

The No. 20-ranked Clemson softball team snapped No. 11 Duke's 20-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon inside of McWhorter Stadium, defeating the Blue Devils 4-1. The win marks the highest-ranked victory in program history, surpassing the Tigers' wins against No. 14 Georgia last year and No. 14 Virginia Tech earlier this season. Clemson moves to 21-4 on the season and draws a game closer to Duke (26-2, 14-2) in the ACC standings with a 13-4 record in ACC play.

“Every win on this level is a big win,” Tigers head coach John Rittman said after the game. “They ended our streak yesterday and we came out and ended theirs today. Good teams are able to bounce back and that’s exactly what we did today.”

Valerie Cagle avenged her two losses yesterday by tossing a complete game while allowing just one earned run on seven hits and striking out four batters. The redshirt freshman from Virginia moves to 13-3 on the season with an astonishing 1.05 ERA in 100 innings pitched this season.

Clemson recorded six hits on the afternoon, and three of those came off the bat of true freshman outfielder McKenzie Clark’s bat. The Florida native was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. The doubles were her third and fourth of the season and the double-bagger doubled Clemson’s lead in the second inning. Cagle also helped herself out in the circle, launching her seventh home run of the season, tying Marissa Guimbarda for most on the team.

“It felt really good to get out there and hit the ball around,” Clark said about the Tigers' bats coming alive on Saturday. “My teammates were really encouraging me and firing me up today.”

The two teams will conclude the series tomorrow as Clemson looks to level the series. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. from inside McWhorter Stadium and can be seen on ACC Network.

Duke had its first scoring chance in its first chance at the plate, putting runners on second and third with one out after a double moved the hit batter over to third. After a mound visit from pitching coach Kyle Jamieson, Cagle sent the next two batters down in order to get the Tigers out of the inning and back in the dugout.

Cagle gave Clemson the lead in the bottom of the first, launching her seventh home run of the season over the center field fence. In just one swing, The Tigers had scored more runs in just the first frame of Saturday’s game then they did in all 14 innings of Friday’s doubleheader with the Blue Devils.

Duke led off the next half inning with a triple to the right-center wall, but the right-hander in the circle retired the next three batters in a row to keep a run off the scoreboard.

The Tigers doubled their lead in the second inning off the bat of true freshman Clark who lined her third double of the season off the center field wall. Alia Logoleo and Grace Mattimore who both drew walks scored on the play and Clark increased her RBI total to 12 on the season.

The Blue Devils once again got a runner in scoring position in the fourth inning, but a run-saving diving catch from the shortstop, senior Ansley Gilstrap, got the Tigers out of the inning unharmed.

Duke cut into the Tiger lead in the top of the fifth, stringing together a double and a run-scoring single to make it a 4-1 ball game heading into the fifth inning stretch.

The Blue Devils brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth with one out, but back-to-back groundouts ended the threat and kept it 4-1.

Cagle sent the Blue Devils down in order in the seventh to record her 13th complete game of the season.

G-MONEY lays out to save a run??

We still lead it 4-0 in the middle of the 4th!

?? ACCN (https://t.co/UzHqGheP3q)?#D1Top10 pic.twitter.com/Jl5OKOT2mq
— Clemson Softball ?? (@clemsonsoftball) March 27, 2021

?? HAVE A DAY @ansley_gilstrap??

?? ACCN (https://t.co/UzHqGheP3q)? pic.twitter.com/HrLntaXnrK
— Clemson Softball ?? (@clemsonsoftball) March 27, 2021

Give me some of that PIE ??

McKenzie Clark's 2-RBI double scores Alia Logoleo and Carlee Shannon. We lead 4-0 in the bottom of the second??

?? ACCN (https://t.co/UzHqGheP3q)? pic.twitter.com/saDV4UBS94
— Clemson Softball ?? (@clemsonsoftball) March 27, 2021

CAGLE. TWO-RUN HOMER ??

That's her seventh of year! We lead, 2-0.

?? ACCN (https://t.co/UzHqGheP3q)? pic.twitter.com/1HTl2PvEWx
— Clemson Softball ?? (@clemsonsoftball) March 27, 2021