CLEARWATER, Fla. – Sophomore Julia Knowler hit a three-run walk-off home run to seal the Tigers’ 11-3 run-rule victory against Ohio State (5-3) to conclude weekend action at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. The Tigers (4-6) had eight athletes record at least one hit, including four that finished with home runs, in the victory. Senior Reese Basinger earned her first win in the circle pitching 5.1 innings with nine strikeouts, no walks and only two hits.
Clemson’s offense strung together 11 hits over the six inning game that had Knowler, senior Maddie Moore and freshmen Ava Wilson and Macey Cintron recording homers. This is the second game of the 2025 season that Clemson has hit four homers. Knowler and Cintron hold the team high with four on the year, while Moore hit three this weekend and Wilson notched two. On the day, Moore led the offense going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored. Alex Brown finished with two hits and three runs, while Cintron scored two runs. Knowler finished with a career-high five RBIs to tie for the ninth-most RBIs by a Tiger in a single game.
The Tigers battled their way back after the Buckeyes took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run and back-to-back RBI singles. Clemson answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning as Brown led off with her first triple of the season into right field and was brought home on a sac fly from Knowler. With two outs, Cintron and Sam Minish drew back-to-back walks to put two on for Wilson to blast her second home run of the weekend out of right field to make it 4-3 in Clemson’s favor.
Back on defense, Clemson’s relief pitcher, Basinger, delivered a shutdown inning for the Tigers by retiring the side in strikeouts that allowed the offense to return to the plate. The Tigers quickly loaded the bases with no outs to allow Knowler to record her second sac fly of the game into left field to plate Jamison Brockenbrough. Cintron followed with a sac fly to center to score Brown and give Clemson a 6-3 advantage after two.
Clemson added insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with both Moore and Cintron hitting solo home runs to make it 8-3 in the Tigers’ favor.
The Tigers closed out the run-rule victory in the bottom of the sixth inning after Brown and Moore tallied back-to-back singles that allowed Knowler to hit a three-run walk-off homer out of left field with no outs. This was the first run-rule homer by a Tiger since March 30, 2024 and the second run-rule victory of the 2025 season.
Graduate Brook Melnychuk started in the circle for the Tigers and threw 24 pitches with one strikeout.
Up Next
The Tigers return to McWhorter Stadium for their home opener against Charlotte on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Action is slated to begin at 6 p.m. on ACCNX. Fans can purchase single-game tickets to see the Tigers live by clicking here or by visiting the ticket table outside the main gate of McWhorter Stadium on gameday. Fans can also learn how to manage their tickets to prepare for first pitch by visiting here.
