Message delivered: Tigers keep rolling in run-rule win, complete sweep of Cal |
Brandon Rink
· · Saturday, March 29 2025
CLEMSON— Clemson softball delivered some loud swings early and quite the message to the ACC Saturday with a 14-4 run-rule win in five innings to complete the sweep of the visiting Cal Golden Bears (25-10, 6-6).
The Tigers (27-10, 9-3 ACC) became the first ACC team to reach nine conference wins, notching a seventh league win in a row and a ninth win overall in the last 11 games. With NCAA Regional host hopes alive, Clemson moved up to No. 18 in the RPI going into Saturday’s games, facing a Top 25 RPI team in the Bears. "We just can't look too far ahead. The ole cliche, we have take it one game at a time, and this team has been able to do that after a rough start the first two weeks of the season weren't the greatest for us. Just to see us bounce back and start playing consistently and put all pieces of the game together has been nice to see," Clemson head coach John Rittman said. The Tigers picked up from where they left off in the latter part of Friday’s opener versus Anna Reimers (5-2) – and much more. Clemson didn’t break through until the fifth inning Friday on her, but they were all over Reimers to start the series-closer in a decisive first inning. Leadoff hitter Alex Brown went around the bases to start with a double combined with a Maddie Moore bunt single, plus an errant throw to first. With two aboard and one out, Aby Vieira then crushed a three-run homer to right field to end Reimers’ day, but she wouldn’t be the only Cal pitcher the Tigers chased in the first frame. After loading up the bases again, a Brown sac fly and a Moore opposite-field, three-run shot spelled the final pitch for Ryann Orange. Julia Knowler backed that up with her 11th homer of the season. All totaled, Clemson tallied seven hits and 10 runs in the first. It was the third-most runs the Tigers have ever scored in a single inning. Clemson ace right-hander Reese Basinger, the league’s reigning pitcher of the week, stranded two Bears to start that first inning, but Cal did break through to start the second, scoring one on a throwing error from Basinger and two more on a Lagi Quiroga double. Tianna Bell continued a productive weekend with a solo shot to left field to start the third, which spelled the end of Basinger’s day and cut the lead to six. Macey Cintron (6-2) came on to get the Tigers out of the jam and preserve the lead. Cintron threw up three scoreless innings of relief to get the win, after delivering the go-ahead or winning hits in the first two games of the series. "She's such a competitor," Rittman said of Cintron. "A great teammate. Works extremely hard. Nothing is too big a moment for her. She is really played well this season from the start to where we are right now. She's come up clutch at the plate and pitched big innings for us. It's just nice to see a freshman have that kind of success." The Tigers had a chance to get some runs back by loading the bases with one out in the third, but Knowler’s flyball foul-out and a Cintron strikeout ended the threat. Clemson was back at it in the fourth with a leadoff single from Vieira and then a Marian Collins bunt forcing a Cal error to put two in scoring position and no out. Kylee Johnson’s RBI grounder brought another Tiger across, but Annabel Teperson kept Cal out of run-rule range for the moment. In the fifth, Brown and Moore got on base back to back with singles, each their third hits of the game, to start things off, and Knowler ended the game with a three-run shot to left field. The Tigers improved to 19-3 at home this season. With Basinger already putting together a strong season, fellow senior Brooke McCubbin and Cintron picked her up with one earned run allowed over 10 2/3 innings over the sweep. "It's huge," Rittman said. "I've said all along that Reese has carried us. Brooke's been a little up and down...Really nice to see Brooke do it. Then to have Macey come in in relief today and pitch really well was great to see. We still have Liv (Olivia Duncan) and Chuk (Brook Melnychuk) who we were ready to throw today if needed. Macey came in and shut the door." Brown totaled six hits over Saturday's two games, joined in multi-hit efforts on the day by Moore (three), Vieira (three), Knowler (two), Cintron (two), Collins (two) and Johnson (two). The Tigers finish off the short homestand with Gardner-Webb on Tuesday (6 p.m.) before heading out West to face Top 15-ranked Stanford for a series.
B1 | 10 runs this inning!!!
— Clemson Softball 🥎 (@clemsonsoftball) March 29, 2025
Knowler follows Moore's home run with one of her own to bring the score to 10-0. This is the third-most runs by the Tigers in a single inning in program history
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/RlbeO1ZP6B
B1 | Running Rampant as Moore sends a three-run shot out of the park 🚀
— Clemson Softball 🥎 (@clemsonsoftball) March 29, 2025
Clemson extends its lead to 9-0
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/5w0fuCaI6s
B1 | Aby Vieira is HOT at the plate 💪
— Clemson Softball 🥎 (@clemsonsoftball) March 29, 2025
For her third of the season... Aby extends our lead to 4-0 in the first. Only one out
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/aVBtDkKAz0
TIGERS WIN! TIGERS WIN!!
— Clemson Softball 🥎 (@clemsonsoftball) March 30, 2025
Clemson sweeps the series at home in dominant fashion with a 14-4 run-rule victory 💪 pic.twitter.com/xLs8saWEak
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