Clemson softball surges past Virginia 8-1, advances to ACC Tournament semifinals
After 11 days of rest for both teams, No. 5 seed Clemson softball surged past No. 4 seed Virginia 8-1 at Duke Softball Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, to advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals Thursday.
The Tigers (34-16) erupted to score three runs in the fifth inning, thanks to McKenzie Clark's RBI sacrifice fly and Alex Brown's two-run single to put away Virginia (32-18).
Clemson loaded the bases to start the game, but only scored one run thanks to Valerie Cagle's RBI single. The Tigers loaded them again in the second inning, but the Cavaliers limited them to one run again via Brown's go-ahead RBI single.
Clemson's Regan Spencer pitched a complete-game. She kept Cavalier hitters under wraps in her first ACC Tournament start, logging three strikeouts and two hits across seven innings.
Brown went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Clark went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.
This is the fourth straight season the Tigers have reached the conference semifinals. They will face No. 1 seed Duke on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
Here are three takeaways from Clemson's ACC Tournament win.
Regan Spencer shines in ACC Tournament quarterfinals
The senior was dominant in her first ACC Tournament appearance, forcing 14 flyouts and three groundouts and holding Virginia scoreless and hitless until the fourth inning, where she allowed a one-out RBI single.
Spencer has been Clemson's most experienced pitcher this season, leading the team in starts (15) and holding opponents to a team-low .229 batting average with a 2.00 ERA entering Thursday.
Clemson softball takes advantage of Virginia's miscues
The Cavaliers committed three errors, and the Tigers took advantage of the slipups. Clemson loaded the bases in the first inning after Clark reached base after getting hit in the hand by a pitch, Brown got on via a throwing error and Maddie Moore walked on a full count. Cagle capitalized with an RBI single.
In the second inning, Arielle Oda hit a single then reached third base after back-to-back wild pitches, which set up Brown's RBI single. In the fifth, Aby Vieira advanced to third after a throwing error, which led to Clark's RBI sac fly.
A concern heading into ACC Tournament semifinals
Clemson had many opportunities to put the game out of reach early but struggled to score runners who were on. It left nine runners on base in the first four innings, until its offensive surge in the fifth.
The Tigers left a total of 12 runners on base, went 7-for-23 with runners on and 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson softball dominates Virginia in ACC Tournament quarterfinals
