Fresh off its fifth consecutive series sweep, the Clemson softball team is set to host the Duke Blue Devils this weekend.
The Tigers, ranked No. 23 by D1Softball.com, enter the weekend on a 17-game win streak. Virginia Tech was the last team to beat the Tigers, taking game three of both team’s conference opening series on Feb. 19. The Hokies are also the only team to claim a series over the Tigers.
The Blue Devils, ranked No. 16 by D1Softball.com, are on a similar win streak, claiming their last 18 games and starting the season 24-1. The sole team to defeat the Blue Devils is Notre Dame, which claimed game one of the teams’ series in Durham, N.C., on Feb. 20. The Blue Devils bounced back and claimed the series against the Fighting Irish, winning both games of the series finale doubleheader.
Notably, the last time the Tigers lost was also the last time they faced a ranked opponent. Duke has only faced one ranked team during their 18-game winning streak, then-No. 25 South Carolina, and the win streak does not include any team currently ranked in D1Softball’s Top 25.
Both teams enter the series with high expectations for the weekend and season.
Clemson is led by Valerie Cagle in both the pitching circle and in the batter’s box. Cagle, who leads the ACC in wins with 12, picked up two wins in her two appearances at Louisville this past weekend. Friday night, the redshirt freshman threw all 11 innings of an extra-inning affair with the Cardinals. She struck out 14 and gave up no runs on 176 pitches, both career highs. Sunday Cagle returned to the circle and again struck out 14, this time taking four fewer innings to do so, a career high for a game completed in seven innings or less for the Yorktown, Va., native.
In the batter’s box, Cagle notched nine hits and six RBIs, including two home runs in Sunday’s win. For her efforts both in the box and in the circle, Cagle was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Week. She became the first player to receive the award in Clemson softball history.
Cagle is not the only Tiger who has been productive in the box. Freshman outfielder McKenzie Clark and sixth-year senior Ansley Gilstrap trail Cagle’s team-leading 25 hits with 23 and 20 of their own, respectively. The Tigers are hitting .297 as a team while holding opponents to a .207 batting average. Clemson Head Coach John Rittman’s squad holds a 123-38 run differential heading into the weekend.
“We’re a no excuse team,” Rittman stated following the Tigers’ sweep of the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Virginia, on March 7. “We kind of have that ‘So what?’ mentality. Whatever you throw at us, we’ll still be ready to play.”
The Blue Devils are in much the same boat as the Tigers, arguably doing so better than Clemson. Duke has posted a .292 team batting average while holding opponents to just .171. The Blue Devils are led on offense by junior shortstop Deja Davis. Davis has started all 25 games for Duke and has a .425 batting average, scoring 21 runs and knocking in 16 RBIs of her own. She is third in the ACC in batting average and hits.
The Blue Devils are even more dangerous in the circle. Junior Shelby Walters and senior Peyton St. George have each started eight games in the circle for the Blue Devils. Both are undefeated and have nine and ten wins, respectively. Walters has a conference-leading ERA of 0.51 and a 0.68 WHIP. WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) basically measures how many baserunners a pitcher allows, and allowing fewer than one per inning makes it hard for opposing offenses to score.
St. George’s WHIP is even lower than Walters’ already incredible mark, sitting at just 0.60. Her 84 strikeouts are almost exactly half of Duke’s team total of 170 strikeouts. The Tigers, a team that relies heavily on rallies and home runs, will need to change their game plan against the Blue Devils’ shutdown pitching.
The Tigers and Blue Devils open the much anticipated series on Friday, March 26, at McWhorter Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Update: Due to inclement weather in Clemson, Saturday’s doubleheader has been moved to Friday with the two games scheduled for 3 and 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday will feature single games, scheduled to start at noon and 4 p.m. respectively.
