ATHENS, Ga. - Sophomore Marian Collins became the first Tiger in program history to record three doubles in a single game and contributed two RBIs to push the Tigers (33-21) to a 3-1 victory against the College of Charleston (30-30) in the elimination game of the Athens Regional.
Serving as the designated away team, the Tigers stepped to the plate first. With two outs, freshman Mac Pavese tallied the first hit of the game with a single through the right side and moved into scoring position following a five-pitch walk by Macey Cintron. Collins knocked her first double into center to bring home Pavese that gave Clemson the edge.
In the circle, freshman Lexie Hames made her postseason debut for the Tigers. She notched four strikeouts through the first two innings, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the second and eliminate the initial threat of two runners on. The Cougars broke open Hames’ no-hitter in the bottom of the fourth with a single, and two stolen bases put a runner in scoring position for an RBI single to even things at 1-all.
Hames went four complete innings with six strikeouts and allowed only two hits in her outing. Junior Sierra Maness entered the game to open the bottom of the fifth and gave up two hits and got one out before being replaced by Cintron with runners on the corners. Cintron contributed to both outs, first a groundout that held the runner at third, and the second a strikeout to force the Cougars to leave both runners stranded.
The Tigers used the momentum from Cintron in the circle to snag two runs offensively that began with a double by Pavese into left field in the sixth. Cintron reached on a fielding error to put Pavese and Kennedy Ariail, who ran for Cintron, on first and second with no outs. Collins stepped up and delivered her third double of the game and team-leading 14th of the year into right center to give Clemson the 2-1 lead with runners on second and third. The momentum continued as Corri Hicks notched a sac fly to right to plate Ariail and pushed the Tigers ahead, 3-1.
Cintron earned the win in the circle following 1.2 innings of work with one strikeout. Graduate Abby Dunning pitched the final inning with two strikeouts to garner her second save of the year.
Up Next
The Tigers return to the field in roughly 30 minutes for a rematch against UNC Greensboro in the second elimination game of the night. Fans can listen to all the action on the ClemsonTigers App and watch on ESPN+.