Naive Tigers look to make some noise in Stillwater

Clemson softball is in some new territory this week.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed May 25 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – A naïve Tigers group is headed to Oklahoma, and they hope that naïve nature means a Super Regional series win.

Beginning Thursday, the 10th-seeded Clemson Tigers will play in their first-ever NCAA Super Regional, taking on seventh-seeded Oklahoma State at Cowgirl Stadium in a best-of-3 series.

Last weekend, Clemson advanced by winning its first-ever NCAA Regional — also the first regional it ever hosted — by defeating North Carolina-Wilmington, Auburn and Louisiana.

Senior second baseman and leadoff hitter Cammy Pereira thinks the Tigers are prepared, even if they have never played in a Super Regional.

“I definitely think we're really prepared. I think that this is going to feel, not as huge as maybe the ESPN Clearwater Tournament,” Pereira told TigerNet. “That was two teams going head to head, and a lot of fans. So, I think even though there was a bunch of teams there, it's kind of the same environment. We're really prepared for it. None of us on our team have ever been to a Super Regional. So, I think maybe our naive nature might help us a little bit, and not let us get too hyped up or too nervous for it. Just have the excitement piece ready to go.”

Centerfielder McKenzie Clark knows the atmosphere will be electric.

“I'm just looking forward being in the moment,” Clark said. “It's going to be really special atmosphere. We've never been there. I've never experienced one. I just can't wait for all the excitement. All the joy.

“For me, you just have to be in the moment, like I said earlier. I know my parents are super excited to be there. I know as soon as we got the win last week, I ran straight to my father while the team was celebrating everything. We got a crowd picture. I just ran straight to him. I'm just super excited to stand in centerfield and look to see my parents and kind of get a breath of relaxation, kind of focus, and then play ball.”

Head coach John Rittman knows the Tigers are underdogs.

“Well, I think the biggest thing is, it's softball at the end of the day. I think our team has done an outstanding job of eliminating the noise outside of the program,” Rittman said. “It's been a long season, a lot of coverage on our team, which is huge for our sport. The exposure that we're getting is wonderful and you just hope it doesn't become a distraction. We have a number of great leaders in our program, upperclassmen that are a little bit more mature and able to handle things and balance things a little bit better. The great thing is we're not in school right now, so it's total attention to softball and the focus is there. You're at the stage now where they're paying attention to getting sleep, staying hydrated and really focused on playing.”

Oklahoma State will present a big challenge.

“I know they're very good. They have pitching depth. They have a lefty, (Kelly) Maxwell, and a righty, (Morgan) Day. They have a fifth year transfer, from LSU, who has been hurt, hasn't pitched, but she's hitting again. She had a big home run for them in their championship win on Sunday. Their offense is kind of like us. They struggled early, but they've kind of found their mojo. They're hitting the ball a lot better now. They play outstanding defense. Little different facility. They have all turf outfield, 190 (feet) fences, little shorter park than ours. They're a well-coached team and there's a reason they're the seventh seed in this tournament. So, we're definitely going to have our hands full. We're going to have to bring our A game to bring home the championship.”

Pereira knows that two more wins means a trip to the Women's College World Series.

“I would definitely say that we have to get past this weekend to get to that goal. So we took regionals one step at a time. We kept talking about that cliche over and over again, just one game at a time, but that's really what you have to do because there's nobody from since we started our postseason onward that we could overlook or just take as an easy opponent,” she said. “If you do that, you're trying to look too far ahead. You may never make that actual goal that you're reaching towards. So right now, focusing on Super Regionals, obviously we know that two wins gets us through, but like McKenzie said, nobody's ever been here before, nobody knows what to expect.

“So just these two wins this weekend, we just got to keep doing what we've been doing. We knew that this weekend was three wins and you move on. So we just have to, again, the cliche that we all say right now, take it one game at a time. Cause that's really important just to say in the moment.”