Tigers "squeeze" out a tight win over Northwestern to advance |
David Hood
· · Saturday, May 17 2025
CLEMSON – Survive and advance.
Aby Vieira tripled and Marian Collins laid down a perfect squeeze bunt in the top of the ninth for the game’s only run as top-seeded Clemson defeated Northwestern 1-0 in nine innings Saturday afternoon to advance to Sunday’s winner’s bracket. Clemson improves to 46-12 while Northwestern falls to 30-19-1. Northwestern will face the winner of the second game of the day – Kentucky or Northwestern – in the third and final game of the afternoon. Clemson will play the winner of that game at 1 pm Sunday and has to be beaten twice. Brooke McCubbin was excellent in relief of Reese Basinger, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits to improve to 18-5 on the season. “Our offense, it is tough when you have opportunities and you don't cash in. Hitting into a triple play is, that's a tough momentum killer, but it didn't faze our team,” head coach John Rittman said. “We came back, we fought hard, and then (Julia) Knowler just missed one. I thought she hit it. I mean, if the wind's not blowing in, that's a three-run homer and you just keep your composure and you keep battling and good things will happen. Viera, catching this heat and in the ninth inning to come up and hit a triple? I haven't seen her run that fast in a long time. The standup triple was huge and then Marian executed the squeeze bunt perfectly and we had to go get three outs. So just very proud of our team. A hard-fought win today and now we get to play for a championship tomorrow.” Viera said she told herself one thing before the bunt. “When Coach Rittman called the squeeze, I was just saying in my head, don't be early. Don't be early. Don't be early,” Viera said. “I just trusted Marian, see it down and just do whatever I can to get home. It was amazing being able to rely on the people behind me to do their job and manufacture a run.” With Clemson not doing much against Northwestern’s Lauren Boyd, Reese Basinger held the Wildcats at bay through three innings. The Wildcats put together one-out back-to-back singles in the fourth, putting runners at the corners. McCubbin stepped in to replace Basinger and got out of the inning with a foul out and a ground out. The Tigers put together a threat against Boyd in the fifth. Vieira reached on an error, and Marian Collins singled to left to put runners at first and second. Taylor Pipkins worked the count to 2-2 and then smoked a liner that was caught by the shortstop. Both runners were leaning, and the shortstop threw back to second to force Vieira, and Collins was thrown out trying to get back to first to complete the triple play. Clemson had another opportunity in the sixth after Brown worked a two-out walk and Moore reached on an infield single. That brought Julia Knowler to the plate, and her drive to center was caught by the centerfielder, whose back was to the wall, for the final out. The Tigers loaded the bases in the seventh. Collins drew a two-out walk, Pipkins singled to left,t and Kylee Johnson reached on a single to short to load the bases. Jamison Brockenbrough worked the count to 3-1 but her liner to right was caught on the run for the final out. The Tigers finally broke through in the ninth. Vieira lined a one-out shot over the head of the first baseman and into the right field corner. Veria never slowed down and coasted into third with a leadoff triple. Northwester brought the infield in, but on a 1-1 pitch head coach John Rittman reached into his bag of tricks. Vieira broke for the plate and Collins laid down a perfect bunt that Boyd could only fall on top of. Vieira scored easily on the suicide bunt, and Collins was safe at first as Clemson took the 1-0 lead.
CLEMSON ON THE BOARD IN THE TOP OF THE 9TH!#RoadToWCWS x 🎥 ESPN+ / @clemsonsoftball pic.twitter.com/MatAyZ0gL0
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 17, 2025
Upgrade Your Experience!
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now!
