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Valerie Cagle - Softball - Clemson University Athletics

#72  Valerie Cagle

Position:
RHP/UTL
Height:
5-9
Class:
*Sr.
Hometown:
Yorktown, Va.
High School:
Homeschooled
B/T:
L-R

Valerie is the reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Rawlings Gold Glove recipient, and D1Softball Player of the Year ... She is a two-time ACC Player of the Year and three-time All-ACC First Team selection ... 2023 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year ... Set a program record with 83 hits including 19 home runs and 15 doubles last season.

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Career Stats  | 2024 Stats | 2023 Stats2022 Stats2021 Stats2020 Stats

Pronunciation

2023

  • USA Softball WNT – 2023 Japan All-Star Series
  • USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
  • NFCA First Team All-American
  • Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete
  • Rawlings Gold Glove (Pitcher)
  • D1Softball Player of the Year
  • D1Softball First Team All-American
  • ACC Player of the Year
  • First Team All-ACC
  • ACC All-Tournament Team
  • All-ACC Academic Team
  • ACC Academic Honor Roll
  • 2023 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
  • USA Softball Top 3 Selection (May 18)
  • USA Softball Top 10 Selection (May 7)
  • USA Softball Top 25 Selection (April 19)
  • Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week (March 28)
  • D1Softball Player of the Week (March 28)
  • ACC Pitcher & Co-Player of the Week (Feb. 21)
  • ACC Pitcher of the Week (March 21)
  • ACC Co-Player of the Week (March 28)
  • ACC Pitcher of the Week (April 4)
  • ACC Co-Player of the Week (April 18)
  • NFCA Selected Top Performance (Feb. 14 – Week 1)
  • NFCA Selected Top Performance (Feb. 21 – Week 2)
  • NFCA Selected Top Performance (March 14 – Week 5)
  • NFCA Selected Top Performance (April 4 – Week 8)
  • NFCA Selected Top Performance (April 18 – Week 10)
  • Ranked the No. 1 Pitcher and First Baseman by D1Softball (March 28 & April 28)
  • Ranked the No. 2 Pitcher and First Baseman by D1Softball (March 14)
  • Started all 61 games
  • Led the Tigers with a .469 average, a .887 slugging percentage and .565 on-base percentage
  • Set a program record with 83 hits including 19 home runs and 15 doubles
  • Scored 50 runs and tallied 57 RBIs
  • Drew a program record 36 walks and stole five bases
  • Went 3-for-4 in the opening game of the Norman Super Regional against Oklahoma (May 26)
  • Finished the Clemson Regional with five hits, four RBIs, four runs scored and eight walks (May 19-21)
  • Tallied a season-high four hits with one home run, two RBIs and two runs scored vs. Ohio State (Feb. 19)
  • Clocked three hits vs. Georgia State (Feb. 11) and vs. UNCG (March 10)
  • Has tallied three RBIs in seven games and at-least one RBI in 30
  • Scored a season-high three runs against South Carolina (March 28) and at NC State (April 15)
  • Hit a home run in five consecutive games (Georgia Tech March 24 – Boston College March 31)
  • Set the a single-season program record with 19 home runs
  • Appeared in the circle in 38 games with 30 starts and 22 complete games
  • Held a 25-8 record with a 1.56 ERA through 193 innings
  • Struck out 188 batters and limited opponents to a .182 average
  • Had eight solo shutouts and three combined with three saves
  • Threw the program’s first perfect game tossing five innings with eight strikeouts against Mercer (March 8)… became the eighth D1 player to throw a perfect game in 2023 and also eclipsed 600 career strikeouts
  • Threw an immaculate inning tossing only nine pitches to strikeout all three batters in the second inning at Georgia Tech (March 24)
  • Struck out a season-high 12 batters against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament (May 11)
  • Tallied 11 strikeouts at FIU (Feb. 12)
  • Preseason All-ACC
  • D1Softball Preseason Second Team All-American
  • Softball America Preseason All-American
  • No. 1 Preseason Extra Inning Softball’s Best Two-Way Player
  • No. 5 Preseason Extra Inning Softball’s Best Pitcher
  • No. 7 Preseason D1Softball Top 25 Pitcher List
  • No. 9 Preseason Extra Inning Softball’s Top 100 List
  • No. 11 Softball America’s 2023 Preseason Top 100 Rankings
  • No. 17 Preseason D1Softball D100 Player Rankings

2022

  • NFCA First Team All-American
  • NFCA All-Region First Team
  • USA Softball Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist
  • ACC All-Tournament Team Selection
  • First Team All-ACC
  • ACC All-Academic
  • Tallied a .308 average overall and .282 average in ACC play
  • Finished the season with 44 RBIs and 34 runs scored
  • Had 55 hits on the year with 10 doubles, one triple and 13 home runs
  • Had three hits in the NCAA Clemson Regional, including a home run in the regional championship game against Louisiana (May 22)
  • Went 2-for-3 with one home run in ACC Championship Tournament Quarterfinals against Notre Dame (May 12)
  • Went 3-for-4 in the opening game at FGCU (Feb. 10) with a double, a home run and six RBIs
  • Hit two home runs against Winthrop (March 15)
  • Went 3-for-4 at Charlotte (Feb. 23) with one run scored
  • Holds a 1.92 ERA through 32 appearances in the circle with three saves
  • Has 16 wins, 16 complete games and seven solo shutouts which leads the ACC
  • Leads the team with 176 strikeouts through 160.2 innings pitched
  • Pitched 6.1 hitless innings against Georgia Tech with 10 strikeouts
  • Pitched Clemson 2-0 upset victory over No. 6/5 Washington with 10 strikeouts
  • Had a season-high 13 strikeouts in Clemson’s 4-3 win over Tennessee
  • Struck out 12 batters at UNC (April 1) after striking out 11 vs. South Carolina (March 30)
  • Turned in a shutout with six strikeouts against Auburn (May 21) in the NCAA Clemson Regional
  • Preseason All-ACC Selection
  • No. 6 on Extra Innings Softball’s Extra Elite 100 list
  • No. 19 on Softball America’s 2022 Preseason College Top 100 list
  • Preseason D1Softball.com First Team All-American
  • Preseason Softball America First Team All-American
  • D1Softball.com Preseason Top 10 Pitcher Power Rankings
  • Preseason D1Softball.com Player of the Year

2021

  • Joined Team USA’s U-18 Junior Women’s National Team
  • USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist
  • NFCA National Freshman of the Year Top-3 finalist
  • NFCA Second Team All-American
  • JWOS First Team All-American
  • NFCA All-Region Southeast selection
  • ACC Player of the Year
  • ACC Freshman of the Year
  • First player in league history garner either ACC Player or Pitcher of the Year, while also earning ACC Freshman of the Year honors
  • First Team All-ACC selection
  • ACC All-Freshman Team selection
  • ACC All-Tournament Team selection
  • Tabbed the No. 4 positional player in the nation for the month of April, according to Softball America
  • Tabbed the No. 2 pitcher in the nation for the month of April, according to Softball America
  • Tabbed the No. 7 pitcher in the nation for the month of March, according to Softball America
  • Ranked the No. 2 freshman in the country entering the season, according to Softball America
  • JWOS Co-Player of the Week (April 27)
  • NFCA Pitcher of the Week (April 20)
  • 2x ACC Player of the Week (March 24 & April 27)
  • 2x ACC Pitcher of the Week (April 7 & 20)
  • NFCA Player of the Week (March 23)
  • One of two players to start all 52 games, started 32 games at pitcher, 11 at left field, 2 at center field, 3 at right field and 4 at designated hitter
  • Hit .404 in 156 total at-bats, with 43 runs, 12 doubles, one triple, 17 homers, a slugging percentage of .821 and an one base percentage of .492
  • Led the team in hits (63), RBIs (45), walks (27), homers (17), doubles (12), batting average (.404) and slugging percentage (.821)
  • Her 17 homers tied for first in ACC and ranked 24th nationally
  • Her .821 slugging percentage led the ACC and ranked 21st nationally
  • Her 1.16 ERA led the ACC and ranked 11th nationally, tied for first in the ACC and tied for seventh nationally in saves (5)  second in the ACC and 11th nationally in strikeouts  (267), second in the ACC in innings pitched (216.2), second in the ACC and fourth nationally in wins (28), third in the ACC in appearances (40) and second in games started (32)
  • Pitched her second career complete-game no-hitter (7 inn.) in 6-0 win over Boston College (April 18)
  • Tossed her first career complete-game no-hitter (5 inn.) in Clemson’s 9-0 win over Winthrop (April 13)
  • Earned her then-second career win in the circle against a ranked opponent after defeating then-No. 14 Virginia Tech (Feb. 18)
  • Recorded a pair of two-run home runs, including a game winner in the top of the seventh, at North Florida (Feb. 12) before entering the circle in the bottom of the seventh to earn her first career save
  • Preseason All-ACC selection
  • D1Softball.com Preseason Second Team All-American
  • Softball America Preseason Second Team All-American
  • JWOS Second Team Preseason All-American

2020

  • Started in all 27 games, including a team-high 13 starts in the circle
  • Hit .376, tallied 10 home runs and five doubles in 93 at bats
  • Only freshman in the country to tally at least 10 home runs
  • Tenth in the nation and second in the ACC in home runs
  • Second in the nation and led the ACC with 36 RBIs
  • Only player to earn ACC Player of the Week honors twice (Feb. 18 & March 3)
  • Justin’s World JWOS Player of the Week (March 3)
  • Recorded the Tigers’ first-ever home run at Clemson Softball Stadium in game No. 2 of CU’s doubleheader against Western Carolina (Feb. 12)
  • One of four players in the nation to record eight RBIs in a single game (Maryland, Feb. 15)
  • Posted a team-high two grand slams on the season, which she achieved against Maryland (Feb. 15) and Virginia (March 1)
  • First Clemson player to ever reach base safely in its inaugural game against St. John’s (Feb. 7)
  • Recorded the program’s first-ever save against Pittsburgh (March 7)
  • Hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh against Virginia (Feb.28) to help CU secure its first-ever ACC victory
  • Pitched a complete game in CU’s first win over a ranked opponent against then-No. 14 Georgia (Feb. 26)
  • Allowed just three hits and recorded 20-of-21 outs within the infield against the ranked Bulldogs
  • Did not earn a loss in the circle in her last nine appearances of the season
  • Posted a team-high eight complete games in the circle
  • Registered her first career complete-game shutout, which included 11 strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work, against Presbyterian College (March 10)
  • ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient

Note: Due to COVID-19, the Clemson Softball inaugural season was cut short (27 games played)

2019

  • Enrolled at Clemson as a freshman

Before Clemson

  • Hit .525 and added eight home runs for her travel team, the Hanover Hornets
  • Pitched 57 innings with and achieved an ERA of 0.00 and added 80 strikeouts

Personal

  • Born Valerie Rose Cagle on Jan. 7, 2002
  • Daughter of Mark and Maria Cagle
  • Majoring in Health Science with a concentration in Preprofessional Health Studies

Hello, I'm Valerie Cagle