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Clemson Falls to Duke 1-0 in ACC Softball Championship In Clemsonâs first postseason opportunity, the Tigers mustered three hits and were unable to string any together in the same inning, which ultimately led to the shutout loss. (Source: Maggie Boulton, ACC) By Patrick Boling | May 15, 2021 at 6:00 PM EDT - Updated May 15 at 6:00 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. â In an ACC Championship matchup that featured two of the leagueâs top pitchers, Duke came out victorious over the top-seeded Tigers in a well-fought 1-0 shutout. Clemson was led by ace and ACC Player-of-the-Year Valerie Cagle, who allowed just two hits and struck out 13 batters, one shy of tying her career high.
Photos by Patrick Boling, Clemson Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In an ACC Championship matchup that featured two of the league’s top pitchers, Duke came out victorious over the top-seeded Tigers in a well-fought 1-0 shutout. Clemson was led by ace and ACC Player-of-the-Year Valerie Cagle, who allowed just two hits and struck out 13 batters, one shy of tying her career high.
In Clemson’s first postseason opportunity, the Tigers mustered three hits and were unable to string any together in the same inning, which ultimately led to the shutout loss. Duke starter Shelby Walters (17-3) earned the win in her five innings, while Payton St. George entered the game in the sixth inning and retired all six batters she faced to earn the two-inning save and deliver the third-seeded Blue Devils their first ever ACC Championship in just their fourth season.
May 12, 2021
Freshly named ACC Coach of the Year John Rittman and Clemson (40-5, 29-5 ACC) finished regular season play with a massive 19-2 revenge win and enter postseason play on cloud nine.
Coming up short of 20 consecutive wins twice in the regular season (17, 19), the broken 19-game win streak against Syracuse on Saturday couldn’t have come at a better time for Clemson. The Tigers now enter ACC Tournament play with a newfound resiliency they haven’t had to muster very often in 2020.
“In hindsight, it probably took a little pressure off of us,” Rittman said in the pre-tournament press conference Tuesday. “You never want to lose a game regardless of the situation or timing of it. But we haven’t really played a bad game all year and as a coach, you kind of wonder when that’s going to happen.
Photos by Patrick Boling, Clemson Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cammy Pereira’s pair of solo home runs to right-center field were enough for Clemson ace Valerie Cagle and the Tigers to secure a 2-0 victory over Georgia Tech in the program’s ACC Tournament opener. Cagle (25-4), the ACC Player of the Year, threw her 10th complete-game shutout and matched her career-high 14 strikeouts as the Tigers advanced to the ACC semifinal. With the victory, Clemson secured the win to improve 41-5 overall on the season.
Pereira’s second-inning shot proved the decisive one, but for good measure the Clemson infielder blasted her second of the game and third of the season, all of which have come against Georgia Tech, in the sixth inning to give the Clemson ace an insurance run headed into the final frame. Cagle ultimately only needed Periera’s first bell-ringer to advance her team in the tournament.