No. 5 Tigers come back to top No. 15 Oregon |
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The No. 5/7 Clemson Tigers captured two victories on the third day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic after defeating Liberty, 7-3, in the early afternoon before topping No. 15/17 Oregon, 3-2, in the primetime matchup on MLB Network. With the two wins, Clemson moves to 4-0 on the season.
“It was a great opportunity for the Tigers to play a game on MLB Network today,” said Head Coach John Rittman. “It’s a great recognition for our program. We had a great day with an early win against Liberty and a tough fought win this evening against Oregon. Freshman Olivia Duncan got her first start in the circle for us in the opening game against Liberty, and Brooke McCubbin went lights out for us to earn her second win on the year. "Tonight’s game was a back-and-forth battle, and I love the way we responded after Oregon scored. We had some big plays defensively, including Alia Logoleo making a great play at third. McKenzie Clark was a spark plug for us all day, and Maddie Moore hit the ball really hard down. The game was really sparked with Valerie (Cagle) and Julia (Knowler) came up clutch with hits that allowed Alia to have the big squeeze bunt to score the go-ahead run. Millie (Thompson) gave us a couple quality innings to put Valerie in a position to close things out. Really proud of our effort. Big day tomorrow with a tough matchup against Missouri, but we are looking forward to it.” Game 2 – No. 15/17 Oregon (W, 3-2) Similar to the opening game on the day, the visitors, Oregon, struck first in the top of the first with a sac fly. The Tigers evened it in the bottom half of the first with a sac fly of their own after Clark hit a leadoff double, stole third and was brought home by Alex Brown’s sac fly to left center. It remained even at 1-all until Oregon secured another sac fly to score a runner from third and make it 2-1 in the Ducks’ favor. Clemson responded in the inning as Cagle led off with a single and Knowler advanced her to third with a double into deep left center. Cagle came home as Logoleo executed a squeeze to even things at 2-2 and have runners on the corner with no outs. Maddie Moore hit a single into shallow center to plate Kennedy Ariail, who was running for Knowler, from third. The Tigers ended the fourth inning with a 3-2 advantage. Logoleo was making plays on both offense and defense as she followed up her squeeze with a web gem snag at third base in the top of the fifth inning. Clemson’s defense dug in to turn over Oregon’s lineup and force the Ducks’ to leave three runners stranded over the course of the seven-inning contest. Senior Millie Thompson started in the circle for the Tigers and put together two complete innings working through the Ducks’ entire lineup. Cagle replaced her in the top of the third and pitched the remaining five innings. She faced 17 batters, striking out five, including the final out of the game. Up Next The Tigers conclude opening weekend tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with a matchup against Missouri. Fans can listen to the game on the ClemsonTigers App or by tuning into 105.5 TheROAR and stream the matchup on GameChanger by following the links on the Clemson Softball schedule page. TIGERS WIN! TIGERS WIN!! SMALL BALL 👏👏👏 WEB GEM 💎 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓘 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮
Valerie Cagle delivers strike three to preserve No. 5 Clemson's 3-2 win over the No. 15 Oregon Ducks pic.twitter.com/oP9wteXjwx
If you looked up squeeze bunt in the dictionary… you’d find this one from Alia Logoleo 🔥 @clemsonsoftball | 🐯 pic.twitter.com/jZ9dgtibxA
Alia Logoleo doing it all tonight on @MLBNetwork 🔥@clemsonsoftball | 🐯 pic.twitter.com/5z2KTdiv3Q
The Tigers capitalized in the fourth inning and are looking to continue tonight. Clemson leads 3-2 over Oregon pic.twitter.com/YvLeFaY5XG
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
