The Clemson Softball team will take to the field on Tuesday this time to face local rival Furman University. The two schools are separated by only 34 miles. Furman will come into this game with a record of 17-18 and having lost four out of five. They were swept by UNC-Greensboro last weekend. I would expect to see Sierra Tufts getting the start. She leads Furman Softball in appearances, wins, complete games, innings pitched, and strikeouts. If she gets into trouble expect to see Lauralee Scott who leads the team in ERA and WHIP. Furman may reverse the order of how the two pitchers are used, but those are the two they want on the mound.
Furman’s leadoff hitter Ashlee Lykins could be trouble on the base paths. She has attempted 15 stolen bases, being successful 13 times. Not only is she fast, but she can hit. Lykins leads the team with a .366 batting average. She is also second in on-base percentage at .833. The other two batters that Clemson needs to be concerned about are Sylvia Burroughs and Kiley Perry. Burroughs leads the team with 24 RBI’s. This despite only having 1 home run on the season. Perry leads the team in home runs with 5, and is second in RBI’s with 23. Perry is also second in batting average for Furman on the season.
Clemson has an assortment of pitchers they could use as the starter in this game. Brooke McCubbin has been a reliable midweek starter for Clemson and I see no reason they would change that now. McCubbin has 8 starts for Clemson this season. She is tied for the team lead in wins with 7, and has an ERA at 3.09. If she does struggle Clemson will have its pick of arms to choose from out of the bullpen. The entire staff should be available on Tuesday.
You can’t talk about Clemson Softball without mentioning Valerie Cagle. Cagle is leading the team in average at .381 and has 33 RBI’s, eight more than second place Maddie Moore. However a couple other Clemson players may be giving the national player of the year some competition for offensive MVP this season. McKenzie Clark is leading the team in home runs with 8, is second in on base percentage with a .470 and leads the team in slugging at .686. Maddie Moore has the second highest batting average with .356 right behind Cagle. Moore is also second in RBI’s and first in on-base percentage. She is also a speedster that creates havoc for the other team on the bases, leading Clemson Softball with 10 steals this season. This isn’t to say Valerie Cagle is not the team MVP, whatever the two do offensively cannot match what Cagle does when on the mound.
Clemson Softball will come into the game ranked 13th in the RPI and 16th in the USA softball poll.
