PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Alia Logoleo, Cammy Pereira and Valerie Cagle all homered to propel No. 5 seed Clemson softball to a 7-3 victory against No. 4 Notre Dame on Thursday afternoon at Vartabedian Field in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Softball Championship. Following the win, the Tigers improve to 38-14 on the season as the Fighting Irish drop to 39-10.
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The Fighting Irish jumped ahead in the first inning after a runner got on off a bunt with two outs. ACC Player of the Year, Karina Gaskins, drove her 13th home run of the year out of left field to give Notre Dame a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers answered in the top of the second inning after freshman Aby Vieira singled down the left field line and All-ACC Third Team selection Alia Logoleo drove her 12th home run of the season out of center field. After two, the score was even, 2-all.
Clemson’s bats came alive again in the top of the fifth inning as Pereira hit a solo homer out of center to give the Tigers their first lead of the day. The momentum continued to swing in Clemson’s favor as Cagle, who Ansley Houston pinch ran for, and Marissa Guimbarda each reached on a single and a walk, respectively. Vieira tallied her second single of the game to bring home Houston and Guimbarda to make it 5-2 in Clemson’s favor.
Cagle extended the Tigers’ lead in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, and Russ recorded an RBI single with two outs to push Clemson to a 7-2 lead. Notre Dame scored one run in the bottom of the seventh off a throwing error, but Clemson’s defense held strong to capture the 7-3 win.
Sophomore Millie Thompson threw her seventh complete game of the season. She struck out two batters to improve to 13-3 on the year.
Up Next
The No. 5 seed Clemson softball team will face top-seed Virginia Tech in the semifinal game of the 2022 ACC Softball Championship on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the ACC Network.