Tigers top No. 11 Duke again to earn series split |
The No. 20 Clemson softball team earned a series split with No. 11 Duke on Sunday inside of McWhorter Stadium, taking the series finale 4-2. Redshirt freshman catcher
JoJo Hyatt singled with the bases loaded in a tie game in the fifth inning to give Clemson the lead and
Valerie Cagle shut down the Blue Devil offense in the 7th inning to secure the victory.
True freshman Millie Thompson picked up her third win of the season, improving her overall record to 3-1 on the season. The Virginia native tossed 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and striking out three Duke batters. Cagle recorded her fourth save of the season, slamming the door shut in the seventh with a Duke runner on second with one out. Marissa Guimbarda was 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day and Hyatt drove in her seventh run of the season on her game-winning RBI single in the fifth. Clemson moves to 22-4 and 14-4 in ACC play, matching Duke (26-3, 14-3) for the most wins in conference play. Florida State sits in between the two now for the ACC lead on conference winning percentage with an 8-2 conference record heading into the month of April. The Tigers will be back in action in McWhorter Stadium next weekend, welcoming the North Carolina Tar Heels into town for a four-game series starting Thursday. A doubleheader is scheduled for Friday starting at 1 p.m. and the series will conclude on Saturday at noon. Duke took the lead first plating a run in the third inning after a lead off double to begin the frame. The Blue Devils threatened to add more to their lead, but there was a line out to Cagle who threw the runner out trying to advance from second to end the inning. It did not take long for the Tigers to answer with two runs of their own to take the lead the following half-inning. The rally began with McKenzie Clark’s second single of the afternoon, a ball hit hard up the middle. Duke decided to walk Cagle for the second at-bat in a row and the cleanup hitter, Guimbarda cleared the bases with her fifth double of the season and gave the Tigers’ a 2-1 lead. Duke threatened to put more runs on the scoreboard in the fourth, putting runners on first and second with one out. The true freshman in the circle closed the door on any momentum the Blue Devils were trying to find, retiring the next two batters back-to-back to keep the lead. The Tigers also threatened to extend their lead in the bottom half of the fourth, loading the bases with two outs before a groundout to the Duke shortstop ended the scoring chance. Duke evened the game at two in the fifth, taking advantage of runners on second and third with one out and scoring on a sacrifice fly to left field. Clemson took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases after two walks and a single loaded them up. Hyatt gave the Tigers the lead back with a single up the middle that scored two and gave Clemson a 4-2 lead. Cagle entered the circle in the seventh and shut down the Blue Devil offense to secure the victory. JoJo (@hannahjo_hyatt) CLUTCH ?? After intentionally walking Valerie Cagle, Marissa Guimbarda "MAKES 'EM PAY!" ?????? ???? Is there anything Valerie Cagle can't do? Asking for a friend... ?? Head Coach John Rittman (@rittmanjohn) sounds off on today's win over No. 11 Duke... pic.twitter.com/keiuXRP20U hey @clemsonsoftball
Her single up the middle scores two to give us the lead in the bottom of the fifth??
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We lead it, 2-1.
?? ACCNX (https://t.co/NnzVhKV4xz) pic.twitter.com/jK5ReEzt5n
?? ACCN (https://t.co/NnzVhKV4xz) pic.twitter.com/agKOUJW75j
THIS. WAS. SO. FUN. pic.twitter.com/OXH3kJHF9f
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