CLEARWATER, Fla. – The No. 5/7 Clemson Softball program opened the season in dominant fashion with a 12-0 shutout against Missouri State on Thursday evening in five innings. Behind a 12 hit performance, including a grand slam by junior Maddie Moore and two home runs from freshman Julia Knowler in her collegiate debut.
Clemson went to work in the top of the first inning as senior McKenzie Clark led things off with a full-count triple and was brought home off a sac fly from transfer Alex Brown. The Tigers dug in with two outs on the board that had Knowler hitting a solo homer out of center, and Alia Logoleo followed with a solo shot of her own. Moore doubled and Lindsey Garcia sent an RBI double into right center to plate Moore. Two batters later, Arielle Oda tabbed an RBI single to center to plate Garcia to make it 5-0.
Making it through the entire lineup in the first, both Brown and Cagle got on base to allow Knowler to pick up another RBI off a single through the right side. Logoleo was hit by a pitch to bring up Moore with no outs and the bases loaded. With the heat on, Moore drove the perfect pitch out of right center to double the Tigers’ lead from the first inning to the second and make it 10-0 after two.
Knowler drove her second home run out of the park in the top of the third for an additional two runs to cap Clemson’s scoring on the evening. In total, eight Tigers tallied a hit, including Knowler going 3-for-4 and Moore going 3-for-3. Both of them had four RBIs each.
Junior Brooke McCubbin started in the circle and pitched three innings with five strikeouts en route to her first win of the season. Valerie Cagle pitched a single inning with three strikeouts before Regan Spencer closed out the five-inning opener with a single inning of work and one strikeout.
Up Next
The Tigers continue opening weekend with a matchup against Indiana at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9. 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.
