Clemson advances to ACC Final in first full season as program |
In a battle in the circle between the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Pitcher of the Year, the No. 13-ranked and No. 1-seeded Clemson softball team posted another shutout in the ACC Tournament, taking down the fourth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies 2-0 on Friday afternoon to book a trip to Saturday's ACC Softball Championship Final against Duke (noon, ESPN).
Valerie Cagle went the distance in the circle, her 25th complete game of the season, outdueling Virginia Tech's Keely Rochard, the league's pitcher of the year, as well as hitting her 15th home run of the season at the plate to extend the Tigers lead in the third inning. The Tigers avenged two of their five losses of the season, which came against the Hokies back in the second weekend of the 2021 season. Cagle tossed a dominant 7.0 innings in the circle, striking out seven while allowing just three hits. The redshirt Virginia native has now posted back-to-back shutouts in her first two ACC Tournament appearances, and has helped Clemson reach the championship game in just its first-ever trip to the ACC Tournament. "I'm so proud of our coaches and our team and our staff," Clemson coach John Rittman said. "Very proud of the way we played and competed all year long. Just very excited and proud to represent Clemson for the ACC Championship tomorrow." The offense went cold again compared to its usual production, scoring two runs on four hits against one of the best pitchers in the nation. Both Cagle and Grace Mattimore picked up RBIs on the day as the two runs the offense put up on the board was enough support for Cagle. Clemson hosted Duke in a four-game series back in February, splitting the series with the Blue Devils inside of McWhorter Stadium. The Hokies threatened to get on the board early, as Cagle got out to a shaky start in the circle in the ACC SemiFinal matchup. After a leadoff single and a walk put two runners on the basepaths with no outs, the redshirt freshman in the circle shook off the nerves and fought back to retire the next three batters and get out of the jam, stranding two Tech runners in scoring position. "Valerie did a great job of pitching herself out of that jam," Rittman said "We talked to our team about situational hitting against good pitching, and how that's usually the difference in a game." The first-seeded Tigers got on the board first in the bottom of the second, playing small ball to plate a run and take the lead. The inning was leadoff with Alia Logoleo drawing a four-pitch walk and moving over to second with a stolen base during the next at-bat. Cammy Pereira did her job of moving the runner over, grounding out to the second baseman to move Logoleo over to third, 60-feet from home. Mattimore laid down a beautiful bunt the next batter, putting the ball right in the Bermuda triangle between the pitcher and third base and the three Tech players had no play at the plate. Clemson stranded two on base in the second, but took an early 1-0 lead against the ACC Pitcher of the Year. Cagle doubled her lead inside of the circle in the third inning off of one swing, sending her 15th home run of the season over the right field fence and opened the Clemson lead, 2-0. The homer was the Virginia natives 41st run driven in on the season and she claimed sole possession of second place in the league with 15 long balls. Virginia Tech got a leadoff single from Addy Greene in the fifth, but following a strikeout for the first out, JoJo Hyatt showed the arm off from behind the plate, throwing a laser to Pereira at second to get Greene out who was attempting to steal second. A groundout ended the inning and got the Tigers back into the dugout, just six outs away from their first trip to the ACC Championship Game. Virginia Tech got a leadoff single in the seventh, but one pitch later, a 6-4-3 double play took care of both runners and got the Tigers one out away from the victory. That out would come two batters later, as Cagle recorded her 11th complete game shutout of the season and sent Clemson to its first-ever ACC Softball Championship Final appearance. "It's definitely a whole different world," the redshirt freshman said when comparing her travel ball tournaments to the ACC Tournament. "All the preparation and all the games we've played this year, we're ready and very, very excited to play the game tomorrow." CAGLE. GONE ??
That's her 15th home run of the season and 41st RBI. She's also now second in the ACC in homers on the season.
We lead it 2-0 in the third??
?? @accnetwork (https://t.co/ZsDZwXT055) pic.twitter.com/aHILWefY29
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