John Rittman's Tigers finished the Clearwater event 4-1.

by TigerNet Staff - Sun Feb 11 12:15:53 GMT-04:00 2024

The No. 5-ranked Clemson softball team dropped its first game of the season, 4-1 to Missouri on Sunday morning, to close out a 4-1 run at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida.

The ACC Tigers shift gears to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico next for another invitational event, starting play on Wednesday versus Wichita State (1 p.m.).

Clemson left 10 runners on base and tallied six hits, while Missouri (5-0) totaled nine hits and left six runners on.

Missouri scored three runs in the first inning and another in the second to take hold of the game early. Tigers starter Brooke McCubbin (2-1) took the loss with three runs (two earned) over 2/3s of an inning pitched.

Clemson's lone run came on a fielding error from a Maddie Moore knock in the fifth inning.

Missouri's Laurin Krings (3-1) went the distance, giving up no earned runs and tallying six strikeouts. Reigning national player of the year Valerie Cagle and transfer Alex Brown had the only multi-hit games for Clemson, but Cagle struck out with Brown on base in the seventh inning.

Freshman Julia Knowler led Clemson over the long weekend with seven RBIs but went 0-for-4 on Sunday.