GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Softball Hosts Tiger Invitational

No. 17/15 Clemson (13-6) hosts Liberty (14-7) and Illinois (9-5)

GAME SETUPS

• 🆚 Opponent: Illinois
• 🗓 Date/Time: Saturday, March 12 • 2:30 p.m.
• 📍 Venue: McWhorter Stadium • Clemson, S.C.
• 📺 Watch: ACCNX
• 📊 Stats: Live Stats 

• 🆚 Opponent: Illinois
• 🗓 Date/Time: Sunday, March 13 • 12:30 p.m.
• 📍 Venue: McWhorter Stadium • Clemson, S.C.
• 📺 Watch: ACCNX
• 📊 Stats: Live Stat 

• 🆚 Opponent: Liberty
• 🗓 Date/Time: Sunday, March 13 • 3 p.m.
• 📍 Venue: McWhorter Stadium • Clemson, S.C.
• 📺 Watch: ACCNX
• 📊 Stats: Live Stats

• 🆚 Opponent: Liberty
• 🗓 Date/Time: Monday, March 14 • 4 p.m.
• 📍 Venue: McWhorter Stadium • Clemson, S.C.
• 📺 Watch: ACCNX
• 📊 Stats: Live Stats

Clemson: Roster | Schedule | Game Notes (PDF)

FULL TIGER INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

PREVIEW

• Clemson takes a 13-6 record into the 2022 Tiger Invitational.
• The Tigers will face Liberty and Illinois in games on both Saturday and Sunday, playing each team twice.
• The Tigers have outscored opponents 88-40 in games this season, including run-ruling five opponents this season.
• Clemson has 135 hits through 19 games, including posting 28 doubles and 15 home runs.
• The Tigers are coming off a midweek win over Mercer in McWhorter Stadium on Wednesday. McKenzie Clark went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs in the game to lead Clemson.
• The pitching staff is posting a 1.61 ERA with 114 strikeouts through 126 innings.

FIRST 100

• Clemson softball will play its 100th game in program history on March 13 in the 12:30 p.m. matchup against Illinois at the Tiger Invitational.
• The 100th game will be played almost five years to the date of the program being announced – the program addition was on March 14, 2017.
• Through the first 100 games, the softball team is pacing itself to tie the best start by any program at Clemson. Women’s tennis is the lone sport with more wins currently clocking 78 wins in its first 100 matches played.
• Among current Clemson head coaches, John Rittman has solidified himself as the winningest head coach through the first 100 games.
• Rittman has 76 wins to surpass baseball’s Monte Lee and football’s Dabo Swinney, who each held a 74-26 record through their first 100 games.

YOUNG PROGRAM

• The Clemson softball program has accomplished multiple feats for being a program with less than 100 games.
• The only players with over 100 collegiate games under their belts are transfers that began their careers at other programs. These players include Marissa Guimbarda, Grace Mattimore, Cammy Pereira, Sam Russ and Bailey Taylor.
• The remaining 24 players on the 2022 roster have appeared in less than 100 games led by Valerie Cagle clocking 98.
• Those 24 players that have less than 100 games are listed as either freshman, sophomores or redshirt sophomores due to the shortened inaugural season.
• The Tigers won the ACC Regular Season Title in their first complete season in the 2021 after playing only 27 games in 2020.
• In only their second season, the Tigers also competed in the ACC Championship game and at the Tuscaloosa Regional.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD

• Graduates Marissa Guimbarda and Cammy Pereira have been selected as two of the 30 candidates for the 2022 Softball Senior CLASS Award.
•  An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Clemson is one of two programs in the country to have multiple athletes selected as candidates, the other being Washington.
• The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later this season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot for nationwide voting.

For complete coverage of the Clemson Softball team, follow @ClemsonSoftball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. In addition, on Feb. 15 Clemson and IPTAY launched Clemson+, a streaming service feature exclusive Clemson content. Information on how to become an IPTAY member and gain access to the subscription is available here.