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Tigers tame Texas in Austin Super Regional Opener

Screenshot 2025-02-05 152517by: Cooper Taylor05/23/25
Screenshot 2025-05-22 at 10.35.37 PM
Courtesy of Clemson Athletics

After an hour and a half lightning delay, Clemson’s Reese Basinger and Texas’s Teagan Kavan were set to duel in Austin.

Kavan worked around a leadoff single and turned in a scoreless first inning. However, Basinger surrendered an infield single to Kayden Henry and a bunt single to Mia Scott. Then, a throwing error scored the Longhorns’ first run of the game before Clemson could record two outs.

The two teams traded scoreless second innings, holding the Texas lead to 1-0. Things began to unravel for the Longhorns in the third. Back-to-back singles from Alex Brown and Maddie Moore put runners on the corners with no outs. A one-out error by the Texas shortstop Katie Stewart then scored Brown and tied the game at 1-1. After a second Texas miscue, Clemson loaded the bases for Marian Collins. With one out, Collins lifted a fly ball that was misplayed by the Texas left fielder, falling for a two-run double. A strikeout from Kavan stopped the bleeding, but the Tigers cashed in on the Longhorns’ mistakes, scoring a pair of unearned runs to grab a 3-1 lead.

In the home half of the third, Mia Scott responded immediately. A solo shot from Scott led off the inning and cut the deficit in half.

A quiet inning for both teams in the fourth brought drama to the fifth inning. Keeping the Clemson lead at 3-2, Texas put two runners in scoring position to start the bottom of the fifth. After Kayden Henry’s double chased Basinger from the game, Brooke McCubbin came on in relief. McCubbin got Scott to pop out and intentionally walked Reese Atwood to face Katie Stewart. With the bases loaded, Stewart flied out to shallow center field. Trying to tag and score, Maloney was cut down at the plate on an outfield assist from Jamison Brockenbrough, ending the inning with no damage done.

In the top of the sixth, Clemson added four insurance runs. The Tigers loaded the bases on a leadoff walk, an infield single and another fielder’s choice miscue at shortstop. Maddie Moore delivered with an RBI single, but it was Julia Knowler’s two-run double that doubled Clemson’s lead. A groundout scored another run for the Tigers, carrying a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth.

In the home half of the sixth, Texas worked some two-out magic to close the gap. A double from Leighann Goode was followed by a pair of infield singles that loaded the bases for the second consecutive inning. This time, Henry lined a single to center field and scored two Texas runs, cutting the Clemson lead to 7-4. With Scott representing the tying run at the plate, she flied out to center and it ended the Texas threat in the sixth.

In the seventh, Texas had its three most prolific power hitters due up. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, Atwood and Stewart both grounded out to third. A two-out Clemson error kept Texas’s chances alive, but McCubbin induced a pop-up from pinch-hitter Katie Cimusz to win the game, 7-4.

The Clemson duo of Basinger and McCubbin held Texas to just four runs on 10 hits, ensuring the Tigers’ first Super Regional game win in program history. With a win tomorrow, Clemson can clinch its first-ever Women’s College World Series appearance. Although Texas has been in this position before. Last year, the Longhorns fell to Texas A&M in Game 1, then responded with back-to-back wins. Texas will need to do the same this season if they want to make consecutive World Series appearances.

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