Reese Basinger pitched a second complete game of the weekend, seeing the Duke go-ahead run score on an error in the seventh (Clemson athletics photo).

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - 7 hours ago

The rubber match went No. 14 Duke’s way in Clemson softball’s first ACC series of the season.

After a run-rule win Friday, the Tigers (18-8, 1-2 ACC) carried a 15-game winning streak into Saturday’s game, but the Blue Devils (17-7, 2-1) captured game two, 5-3, and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning Sunday to a 2-1 win.

Both Clemson starting pitcher Reese Basinger (6-3) and Duke starting pitcher Dani Drogemuller (6-2) impressed from the start.

Basinger began with three shutout frames, but in the fourth inning, Duke’s Thessa Malau’ulu broke through with an RBI triple to right field for the game’s first score.

After holding Clemson hitless for 3 1/3 innings, Drogemuller saw the lead short-lived as Maddie Moore launched a home run opposite-field to right to tie up the game, her sixth homer of the season.

Back on the other side of things, Duke’s Aminah Vega led off the sixth inning with a single, but Basinger preceded to get three flyouts in a row to strand the Blue Devil runner.

Clemson had a chance in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead, putting two on with one out, but a baserunning mishap kept the runners at first and second on a hit to the left field wall – and the next pitch was lined to first base for an easy double play.

With two down in the seventh inning, Basinger induced the groundball, but shortstop Marian Collins’ throw went wide of first base to allow the go-ahead run to score from second base.

"Tough loss today," Clemson head coach John Rittman said via news release. "I love the way our team competed. Reese Basinger was phenomenal in the circle for us - she pitched well enough to win. We hit a lot of balls hard right at people and not a lot to show for it. I love the way our team fought back after they scored with Maddie Moore coming up with the big hit. Again, we had runners in scoring position and the winning run at the plate, so you can see how our team fights. It was two really good, matched teams going at it this weekend. Unfortunately, we came out on the short end of the stick. We will learn from this and continue to have a growth mindset with our young players to get ready for North Carolina."

Basinger pitched a second complete game of the weekend, going five innings in the run-rule win Friday. Basinger totaled four strikeouts to one walk.

Drogemuller went the distance as well with six strikeouts to no walks. She stranded a leadoff runner in the seventh inning with two flyballs and a strikeout.

The Tigers return to action back in ACC play at home with UNC next Friday (6 p.m.).

B4 | Hype us all the way up 🤯🤯🤯

Maddie Moore evens things up at 1-1

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— Clemson Softball 🥎 (@clemsonsoftball) March 9, 2025