ATHENS, Ga – The No. 8/9 Clemson Softball team dropped a close matchup, 2-1, to No. 5/3 Georgia in extra innings. The Tigers and Bulldogs tallied the same number of hits, six, but the Tigers left 13 runners on base during the eight-inning contest. Offensively, McKenzie Clark tallied Clemson’s lone RBI, while Arielle Oda scored. Defensively, redshirt senior Valerie Cagle struck out a season-high 10 batters in the circle.
The Bulldogs scored their first run of the night in the bottom of the third. After a batter got on off a walk, she made it around to score following a double off the left-center fence. Oda and Alia Logoleo made great connecting throws to Aby Vieira behind the plate that required a review, but the runner was ruled safe at the plate to make it 1-0 in the Bulldogs’ favor.
The Tigers looked to respond on multiple occasions, including loading the bases with two outs in three separate innings, but weren’t able to capitalize on any of the opportunities until the top of the sixth. Oda reached on a single to the shortstop and moved up a bag on a sac bunt from Alex Brown. With a runner in scoring position and a 2-2 count, Clark tallied her second hit of the evening for a RBI single into right center to plate Oda and even things at 1-all.
With neither side scoring in the seventh, action continued into the eighth inning. Oda reached on her second hit of the evening with a single to the shortstop, but Clemson left her stranded to mark the 13th runner left on base for the Tigers. Georgia was able to get their leadoff batter on base in the bottom of the inning. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly out to left center
Cagle started her fourth game of the 2024 season and pitched the full 7.1 innings for the Tigers as she moved to 5-1 on the year.
Up Next
The Tigers return to the McWhorter Stadium on March 1 where they will open up ACC play with a three-game series against NC State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and can be streamed on ACCNX. Links to both live stats and to stream the game can be found on the Clemson Softball schedule page.
