Tigers close out doubleheader sweep of Winthrop |
After taking game one of the day, 9-0, the No. 17-ranked Clemson softball team completed the mid-week doubleheader sweep over Winthrop Tuesday, hitting four home runs and taking game two by a score of 6-2.
Ansley Gilstrap hit two home runs and
Valerie Cagle showed she is also a force to be reckoned with at the plate, recording her team-high-tying eighth home run of the season in the third inning.
McKenzie Clark also added a round-tripper to round out the Clemson home run party.
As the 1-2-3 hitters combined, the trio of home run hitters was 6-of-8 with four home runs and six RBIs. “Good to get back out there and get the competitive juices flowing again,” Clemson head coach John Rittman said about coming back from last weekend's COVID pause due to Notre Dame needing to postpone. “I was very impressed with Valerie in the first game with the no-hitter in five innings, she was pretty much untouchable.” Clemson moves to 28-4 on the season after the sweep and has its sights set on another ACC weekend series inside of McWhorter Stadium against the Boston College Eagles this weekend (starting Friday at 5 p.m. on ACCNX). BC enters the weekend with a 4-13 record in ACC play compared to the Tigers' 18-4, a game behind Florida State in winning percentage for first in the conference. The duo of true freshman Millie Thompson and Regan Spencer led the way in the circle for Clemson, combining to allow one hit in 6.0 innings of work and recording nine strikeouts. Thompson received the win and moved to 5-1 on the season and five straight wins in the circle for the true freshman. On the day, including Emma Whitfield who pitched the seventh inning, Clemson pitching combined to allow only two hits during the doubleheader. The Tigers got on the scoreboard first again in game two, stringing together two hits to plate a run off the bat of Cagle. Clark led the inning off with a single to the third baseman, and two batters later, Cagle singled up the middle to record her 25th RBI of the season. Clemson opened up its lead in the third, scoring three runs off of back-to-back home runs from Stuart and Cagle. The Tigers would lead 3-0 before a weather delay that halted the game for 50 minutes before play resumed. The Tigers went back-to-back with the home runs once again in the fourth. Clark slapped her fifth long ball of the season and Gilstrap launched her second home run -- and fourth of the season -- over the "C" in Clemson on the outfield wall in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-0. Winthrop scored its first runs of the day in the seventh, as Taylor Charlton hit her ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to cut into the lead, 6-2. And this one's outta here too?? This one's McKenzie "Pie" Clark's fifth home run of the season, which extends our lead to 5-0 in the fourth. CAGLE, GONE??
After Pie's homer, Ansley Gilstrap (@ansley_gilstrap) blasts this one to left-center, giving us a 6-0 lead in the four. That's her third of the season ??
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?? ACCNX (https://t.co/hgfhkLkPQf) pic.twitter.com/12HvYJNWLf
After pitching her first career no-hitter in game No. 1 of today's doubleheader, Valerie Cagle crushes this one to opposite left field ??
?? ACCNX (https://t.co/hgfhkLkPQf) pic.twitter.com/RfQUyU1z8K
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