The Clemson Tigers Softball team won the minimum three games during the Clemson Regional last weekend.
The Tigers will now take to the road and play the #6 overall seed, the Texas Longhorns in Austin in a best-of-three game series with the winner heading to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series.
Games start on Thursday night, followed by game 2 on Friday and game 3 on Saturday, if necessary. All three games are scheduled for 9pm EST and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
This is a preview of the Tigers’ Super Regional with full season statistics..
Here are the teams starting with your Clemson Tigers:
# 11 Seed – Clemson Tigers
Coach: John Rittman (6th Season @ Clemson)
Record: 47-12 (19-5 ACC; ACC Tournament Champions)
Wins (47) against: Kansas, Georgia State, Missouri State, Ohio State, Charlotte, Elon, Villanova, Marshall (x3), Lafayette, East Carolina, Indiana (x2), Furman, Charleston Southern (x2), Duke, North Carolina (x2), Fordham, Syracuse (x3), Cal (x3), Gardner-Webb, Stanford (x2), Winthrop, NC State (x3), South Carolina, Boston College (x2), Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia Tech (x3), Virginia (ACC Tournament), Virginia Tech (ACC Tournament), Florida State (ACC Tournament Final), USC-Upstate (Regional), Northwestern (Regional), Kentucky (Regional Final)
Losses (12) against: Ole Miss, Florida Atlantic, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky, UCF, Duke (x2), North Carolina, South Carolina, Stanford, Boston College
| NAME (#) | Position | ‘25 Stats |
| Alex Brown (25) | 3rd Base | .418; 12 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 35 RBI; 10-12 SB |
| Maddie Moore (28) | 2nd Base | .417; 12 2B, 3 3B, 16 HR, 66 RBI; 11-11 SB |
| Julia Knowler (12) | 1st Base | .302; 18 2B, 14 HR, 58 RBI; 8-8 SB |
| Macey Cintron (16) | Designated Player | .301; 8 2B, 3B, 13 HR, 49 RBI |
| Aby Viera (4) | Catcher | .345; 17 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 32 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Marian Collins (5) | Shortstop | .369; 13 2B, 3B, 11 HR, 45 RBI |
| Taylor Pipkins (22) | Right Field | .316; 3 2B, 4 HR, 23 RBI; 3-4 SB |
| Kylee Johnson (3) | Left Field | .222; 2 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 19 RBI; 8-8 SB |
| Jamison Brockenbrough (9) | Center Field | .319; 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 22 RBI; 8-8 SB |
In the circle, the Tigers will likely throw ACC Pitcher of the Year Reese Basinger followed by Brooke McCubbin:
| NAME (#) | Position | ‘25 Stats |
| Reese Basinger (7) | Right Handed Pitcher | 17-5; 2.81 ERA, 41 app, 169.1 IP, 121 K, 43 BB; OppBA: .250 |
| Brooke McCubbin (2) | Right Handed Pitcher | 18-5; 2.54 ERA, 37 app, 129.1 IP, 78 K, 37 BB; OppBA: .252 |
The Tigers were dominant in the regional. They did need extra innings in Game 3 of the tournament, against Northwestern, but were able to get through before handling Kentucky in the regional final.
Hitting Stats National Rankings:
Batting Average: .328 (26th)
Doubles/Game: 1.69 (10th)
Home Runs: 82 (T-13th with Texas)
Runs Batted In: 388 (T-13th)
Stolen Bases: 48 (T-151st)
Team Pitching National Rankings:
Team ERA: 2.56 (16th)
Strikeouts/Game: 4.68 (119th)
Here is a look at the Tigers Super Regional opponent, the #6 Overall Seed Texas Longhorns lineup and season statistics.
#6 Seed – Texas Longhorns
Coach Mike White – 7th Season at Texas
Record: 49-10 (16-8 SEC)
Wins (49) against: Longwood, Louisiana, St. John’s, Lamar, Tulsa, Sam Houston, Maryland (x2), Texas Tech (x2), UMass, Colorado State (x2), UC Davis, Arizona, South Florida (x2), Abilene Christian, New Mexico State, Alabama A&M, Baylor, Merrimack, Oakland, Kent State, Dayton, Ohio State, Florida (x2), Auburn (x3), Stephen F. Austin, Mississippi State (x2), Missouri (x3), Texas State, Tennessee, LSU (x2), Oklahoma State, Kentucky (x3), Ole Miss (SEC Tournament), Eastern Illinois (Regional), Michigan (Regional), UCF (Regional Final)
Losses (10) against: Stanford, Florida, Mississippi State, Tennessee (x2), LSU, Oklahoma (x3), Texas A&M (SEC Tournament)
Probable Lineup for Texas
| NAME (#) | Position | ‘25 Stats |
| Ashton Maloney (7) | Right Field | .429; 9 2B, 2 3B, 21 RBI; 11-12 SB |
| Kayden Henry (21) | Center | .420; 11 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 26 RBI; 30-31 SB |
| Mia Scott (10) | 3rd Base | .442; 17 2B, 3B, 6 HR; 4-4 SB |
| Reese Atwood (14) | Catcher | .429; 12 2B, 3 3B, 20 HR, 84 RBI; 6-7 SB |
| Katie Stewart (20) | Shortstop | .382; 12 2B, 15 HR, 75 RBI; 2-6 SB |
| Joley Mitchell (9) | 1st Base | .388; 8 2B, 3B, 14 HR, 58 RBI; 3-4 SB |
| Victoria Hunter (12) | Designated Player | .260; 2 2B, 5 HR, 15 RBI |
| Leighann Goode (43) | 2nd Base | .276; 6 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 35 RBI; 3-4 SB |
| Kaydee Bennett (5) | Left Field | .266; 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI; 9-13 SB |
The highly-talented Longhorns are led offensively by All-American Catcher Reese Atwood. Atwood leads the team with 20 home runs. She added 84 runs batted in. She also has an astonishing 1.449 OPS.
Joley Mitchell and Katie Stewart add 14 and 15 home runs respectively with Stewart adding a 75 runs batted in.
And in the circle, we can expect to see the following:
| NAME (#) | Position | ‘25 Stats |
| Teagan Kavan (17) | Right Handed Pitcher | 23-4; 2.48 ERA, 34 app, 161 IP, 200 K, 43 BB; OppBA: .216 |
| Mac Morgan (55) | Right Handed Pitcher | 9-4; 3.48 ERA, 24 app, 66.1 IP, 34 K, 16 BB; OppBA: .286 |
| Citaly Gutierrez (77) | Right Handed Pitcher | 10-1; 2.48 ERA, 31 app, 79 IP, 68 K, 32 BB; OppBA: .211 |
| Cambria Salmon (25) | Right Handed Pitcher | 7-1; 2.02 ERA, 20 app, 55.1 IP, 63 K, 18 BB; OppBA: .206 |
Hitting Stats National Rankings:
Batting Average: .361 (2nd)
Doubles/Game: 1.49 (T-51st)
Home Runs: 82 (T-13th with Clemson)
Runs Batted In: 423 (4th)
Stolen Bases: 73 (T-60th)
Team Pitching National Rankings:
Team ERA: 2.69 (22nd)
Strikeouts/Game: 7.16 (11th)
Summary
The transitive property does not tell the tale in college sports, but I would be remiss to see how teams matched up with common opponents. Clemson held their own with teams that beat Texas and vice versa. So while Texas is a national power and blue blood of the college softball world, the Tigers match up pretty well and it will all start in the circle.
ACC Pitcher of the Year Reese Basinger does not strike out a bunch of hitters with overpowering stuff, yet she elicits light contact from opponents and allows her highly skilled defense to make plays.
Texas counters with Teagan Kavan, 17th in the country in strikeouts.
The Tigers will just have to limit the long ball from the Longhorns, as just about everyone in that lineup is capable of leaving the yard.
With the way this Tigers softball team is playing, I like this matchup.
