2023 Clemson Tigers softball team

2023 Clemson Tigers softball
NCAA Clemson Regional champion
NCAA Tournament, Norman Super Regional
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
Record49–12 (18–6 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Kyle Jamieson
  • Courtney Breault
Home stadiumMcWhorter Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 Atlantic Coast Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
No. 3 Florida State  ‍y 22 2 0   .917 58 11 0   .841
No. 5 Duke  ‍‍‍y 19 5 0   .792 48 11 0   .814
No. 10 Clemson  ‍‍‍y 18 6 0   .750 49 12 0   .803
Louisville  ‍‍‍y 16 7 0   .696 34 20 0   .630
No. 24 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍y 14 10 0   .583 39 20 0   .661
North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 13 10 0   .565 26 28 0   .481
Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y 11 12 1   .479 30 19 1   .610
Virginia  ‍‍‍ 8 16 0   .333 30 22 0   .577
Syracuse  ‍‍‍ 7 15 1   .326 19 25 1   .433
Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍ 7 17 0   .292 26 27 0   .491
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍ 6 17 0   .261 24 25 0   .490
Boston College  ‍‍‍ 6 18 0   .250 24 28 0   .462
NC State  ‍‍‍ 6 18 0   .250 18 35 0   .340
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 8, 2023[1]
Rankings from NFCA/USA Today


The 2023 Clemson Tigers softball team was the varsity college softball team that represented Clemson University during the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. This was the fourth season of Clemson's softball program. The Tigers competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and were led by head coach John Rittman. Clemson played its home games at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

During the season, on March 8, Valerie Cagle became the first Clemson pitcher to throw a perfect game in program history. The game came against Mercer at home.[2]

The Tigers finished the regular season 45–8 and 18–6 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament, they earned a bye into the Quarter finals where the defeated North Carolina before losing to Duke in the Semifinals. The Tigers were selected, via at-large bid, as the sixteenth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They hosted a regional and were placed into the Norman Super Regional. They defeated UNC Greensboro and Auburn to earn a spot in the final of the Regional. They lost to Auburn in the first game, but won the second time to advance to the Super Regional. The Tigers lost both games to the eventual national champions Oklahoma Sooners in Norman to end their season.

Previous Season

[edit]

The Tigers finished the 2022 season 42–17 overall and 14–10 in ACC play to finish in fifth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament, they earned a bye into the Quarter finals where they defeated fourth seed Notre Dame. In the Semifinals they defeated first seed Virginia Tech, but fell to third seed Florida State in the Final. This marked the back-to-back appearances in the Final of the ACC Tournament in the program's first two full seasons. The Tigers were selected, via at-large bid, as the tenth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They hosted a regional and were placed into the Stillwater Super Regional. They defeated UNC Wilmington, Auburn, and Louisiana in their Regional to advance to face Oklahoma State in the Super Regional. Clemson lost both games in Stillwater to end their season.

Personnel

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
2023 Clemson Tigers roster[3]

Pitchers

  • 1 – Rachel Gibson – Sophomore
  • 2 – Brooke McCubbin – Sophomore
  • 11 – Haylee Whitesides - Redshirt Freshman
  • 19 – Regan Spencer – Junior
  • 72 – Valerie CagleJunior
  • 87 – Millie Thompson – Junior
 

Catchers

  • 4 – Aby Vieira – Sophomore
  • 9 – Sarah Howell – Sophomore
  • 13 – Abi Stuart – Sophomore
  • 23 – JoJo Hyatt – Junior

Outfielders

  • 6 – Julia Bomhardt – Senior
  • 7 – McKenzie Clark – Junior
  • 10 – Caroline Jacobsen - Graduate Student
  • 16 – Alia Logoleo – Junior
  • 17 – Ally Miklesh - Graduate Student
  • 42 – Morgan Johnson – Sophomore
 

Infielders

  • 00 – Marena Knowles – Freshman
  • 3 – Reedy Davenport - Graduate Student
  • 5 – Ansley Houston – Junior
  • 8 – Grace Hiller – Freshman
  • 15 – Madison May – Junior
  • 21 – Jadeyn Ruszkowski – Freshman
  • 24 – Arielle Oda – Junior
  • 28 – Maddie Moore – Sophomore
  • 58 – Kyah Keller – Junior

Coaches

[edit]
2023 Clemson Tigers softball coaching staff[4]
  • John Rittman – Head coach – 4th season
  • Kyle Jamieson – Assistant coach – 4th season
  • Courtney Breault – Assistant coach – 4th season
  • Jessie Harper – Volunteer assistant coach – 1st season

Schedule

[edit]
Legend
  Clemson win
  Clemson loss
  Cancellation
Bold Clemson team member
* Non-Conference game
Make-Up Game
2023 Clemson Tigers softball game log[5]
Regular Season
Postseason

Note: All rankings shown are from the NFCA/USA Today poll.

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
NFCA / USA Today1075444 (1)5546661091010*9
Softball America10755554458661177129
ESPN.com/USA Softball1065445547668101010*9
D1Softball965776555865101010*10*13
  • Various polls did not release during the NCAA tournament. * indicates that the ranking is from pre-tournament for comparison purposes.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2023 ACC Softball Standings". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  2. ^ Raynor, Grace (March 8, 2023). "Clemson's Valerie Cagle pitches first perfect game in program history". The Athletic. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Softball Roster". Clemson Tigers. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Staff Directory". Clemson Tigers. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Softball Schedule". clemsontigers.com. Retrieved November 9, 2022.