Clemson Softball will look to bounce back from this past weekend with a home game win in the midweek, when they host the Winthrop Eagles before hitting the road for the final stretch of the 2024 season.
For Clemson (#22, 28-14, 11-7 ACC), the game on Tuesday night will look to be a get-right game after a tough weekend series against Duke, where they were on the wrong side of a 0-3 sweep. While the game results don’t tell the whole story for the Tigers on their senior-honoring weekend, Tuesday’s game against the Eagles will be a hopeful reminder of how good this 2024 team really is.
All-World center fielder McKenzie Clark (.356, 9 HR), reigning national player of the year Valerie Cagle (.364, 6 HR), and ever-reliable Maddie Moore (.357, 8 HR) will look to anchor the Tigers at the plate tonight and set the tone for the remainder of the year. Critical for this group will be Cagle’s health – she has missed the past four games due to concussion protocol. If she is a go, look for her to take to the circle for a few innings (2.45 ERA, 6 CG, 84 K) – she’s an important part of the Clemson pitching staff that will need to get into shape if they want to make a run during this final stretch of the 2024 campaign.
Winthrop (18-24, 5-7 Big South) will be looking to bounce back from a series sweep of their own, falling to Longwood on the road in conference play. The Eagles will attempt to take a page out of Furman’s playbook – who came to Clemson during a mid-week game and won against the Tigers earlier this year. They’ll be led by graduate KaDedra Temple (.320, .907 OPS) and junior Emma Jackson (.255, 9 HR) at the plate, as well as junior Reese Basinger (2.72 ERA, 105 K) and junior Megan Powell (3.53 ERA, 87 K) in the circle.
Note: Clemson now sits in a 3-way tie with Virginia and Georgia Tech in the ACC standings. A win tonight will give the Tigers some momentum heading into two straight conference series on the road, first against Notre Dame (7-11 ACC), and then Louisville (5-10 ACC). The NCAA National RPI Rankings have the Tigers at number 20 as of the start of this week. This statistic can give teams a close idea of where they will land during the postseason – specifically if they will find themselves hosting a regional (top 16), or if they will start the national tournament on the road. With tonight potentially starting a new winning streak, Clemson will work to see that number improve to give them a chance to host a regional for another year in a row, making tonight’s game not the final home game for the Tiger faithful.
First pitch is slated for 6pm on Tuesday night inside McWhorter Stadium.
