CLEARWATER, Fla. – Three home runs highlighted the Clemson offense over the course of two games, including freshman Ava Wilson clocking a grand slam for her first collegiate home run, but the Clemson Tigers dropped both games on the opening day of the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. The Tigers (3-4) fell in the first game, 10-6, to No. 16 Missouri (5-3), before losing the second game, 6-3, to Auburn (6-0).
The two additional home runs on the day came from senior Maddie Moore, who hit her first one in her final at bat against Missouri before opening the game against Auburn with a solo shot.
Game 1 (L) – No. 16 Missouri 10, Clemson 6
The Clemson Tigers jumped out to the lead in the top of the second inning after Macey Cintron and Marian Collins clocked back-to-back singles with only one out. Aby Vieira loaded the bases with a full-count walk, and Wilson took the sixth pitch of her at bat for a ride out of right field for a grand slam. This was Wilson’s first collegiate home run and the first grand slam by a freshman since Vieira hit one against Akron in 2022.
Moore kept the offense going when she knocked an RBI triple into right field after Jamison Brockenbrough singled with two outs to extend the Tigers’ lead in the second inning. Clemson held a 5-0 lead heading to the bottom half of the inning, but Missouri answered with four hits and five runs scored to level it at 5-5. Missouri went on to score at least one run in the next three innings after taking advantage of a couple Clemson errors to not only take the lead, but extend things to 10-5.
In the top of the seventh, Moore kept the Tigers alive with a solo home run out of left field to cut Missouri’s lead down to only four. Julia Knowler knocked her first hit of the game into right field for a double with only one out, but Clemson left her pinch runner, Riley Fennell, stranded to end the game with a final score of 10-6.
Senior Reese Basinger started for the Tigers and pitched two innings with one strikeout before Cintron entered the circle. Cintron (1-1) pitched two innings before graduate Brook Melnychuk entered the game to pitch the final two innings and struck out one.
Game 2 (L) – Auburn 6, Clemson 3
Similar to how she ended the first game of the day, Moore stepped to the plate in the second and ripped a solo home run out of left field to make it 1-0 in the top of the first. Auburn responded in the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back doubles to take a 2-1 lead after one.
Auburn extended its lead in the second and third innings with a solo home run and a three-run homer, respectively. It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that Clemson was able to cut into the lead. In the fourth, Moore led off with a single, and Cintron brought her home with an RBI double down the left line. Vieira and Alex Brown followed in similar fashion in the fifth, as Vieira led off with a single to right field and was brought home on an RBI double by Brown. After five, Clemson trailed 6-3.
Vieira attempted to spark the Tigers with a single in the top of the seventh, but Clemson left her stranded to end the game with a final score of 6-3.
Brooke McCubbin got the start in the circle for Clemson. The senior pitched 2.2 innings with three strikeouts in the loss to move to 1-1 on the year. Basinger, who pitched 2.1 innings with one strikeout, replaced McCubbin in the third inning before Melnychuk entered in the sixth to close out the game with one strikeout.
Up Next
The Tigers continue action in Clearwater on Friday, Feb. 14 when they take on No. 23/24 Kentucky at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
