Corri Hicks crushed a three-run homer in the first inning and Sierra Maness shut the door with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief as Clemson beat Winthrop 7-3 Tuesday night at McWhorter Stadium.
The Tigers (17-8) had Winthrop starter Emmy Cardenas on her heels from the opening pitch. And here’s a stat that’ll make you look twice: Clemson didn’t strike out. Not once. Twenty-five at-bats, zero punchouts. When a lineup refuses to chase, runs are going to happen.
Brockenbrough tripled to lead off the bottom of the first. 1,412 people at McWhorter, and they were standing before the first out. Channell got plunked to put two on, Pavese singled to load the bases, and then Hicks got a pitch she could handle. Three-run blast. 4-0. Cardenas hadn’t even recorded three outs yet.
Winthrop scratched one back in the top of the first. Rebecca Amos walked, stole second, and scored on a Darrah Nickens groundout. Then they went quiet for an inning before putting together a two-run third against Lexie Hames, who walked three batters and threw two wild pitches in 1.2 innings of work. Grayson Buckner singled, Amos walked again, and both came around to score. Suddenly it was 4-3, and the game had some life.
That’s when Maness came in. And the game was basically over.
Three and a third innings. Zero hits. Zero runs. Two strikeouts. She walked a couple, but nobody got past first. Forty-five pitches, 9-3 on the season. Keep in mind, she threw 126 pitches in a complete game against Georgia Tech on Friday. Three days later, back out there blanking another lineup on a Tuesday night like it was nothing.
Two more in the fifth. Pavese doubled to start it, Collins singled her home, and Knowler lifted a sac fly to push it to 6-3. Pavese went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and scored twice. Went 3-for-4 with a homer against College of Charleston last week. This isn’t a hot streak. This is just who she is now. A freshman who hits like that and takes walks? ACC pitchers are going to hate seeing her name in the three-hole.
Hicks added another RBI on a sac fly in the sixth. That’s four on the night. Same player who hit a walk-off solo shot against Georgia Tech on Saturday. She keeps picking the right moments.
Breaux went 2-for-3 with a walk at third. Reached base three times without anybody really talking about it. Brockenbrough had two hits on the night, including that leadoff triple that sparked the whole first inning.
Now, the defense. Three errors. Two from Collins at second, one from Breaux. You can get away with that against Winthrop. You can’t get away with that against Florida State or Virginia Tech. Worth keeping an eye on as the ACC slate gets deeper.
Crosby started and gave them two solid innings on 40 pitches. One hit, one walk, one strikeout. She handed Hames a 4-0 lead. Hames let it get tight. Maness cleaned it up. Three arms, one win. That’s how this staff works.
Cardenas took the loss, falling to 2-5. Seven hits, six runs, five walks, 100 pitches in 4.1 innings. Buckner mopped up the last 1.2 and kept it from getting ugly, but by then it didn’t really matter.
Five wins in six games. 17-8 overall. And the ACC schedule is just getting started. This team has a pitching staff three deep, a lineup that doesn’t chase, and a catcher who keeps finding the seats when it counts. Tiger fans should be paying attention to this softball team right now.
