Clemson tops Virginia Tech, advances to ACC Tournament Championship

On3 imageby:Matt Connolly05/14/21

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Clemson softball already won the ACC regular season title. Now the Tigers are a game away from clinching the ACC Tournament Championship as well.

No. 1 seed Clemson beat No. 4 seed Virginia Tech 2-0 Friday afternoon in Louisville to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

The Tigers will play the winner of No. 2 seed Florida State and No. 3 seed Duke on Saturday. The championship game will be played at Noon and will be televised on ESPN2.

“I’m so proud of our coaches and our team and our staff. Everybody is just very proud of the way we’ve played and competed all year long,” Tigers coach John Rittman said. “We’re a fun group to watch and just excited for the opportunity to represent Clemson for the ACC Championship tomorrow.”

Clemson two-way player Valerie Cagle was once again the star of the show.

The ACC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year pitched a complete-game shutout and also hit a solo home run in the victory.

Cagle, who is one of 10 finalists for the National Player of the Year, improved to 26-4 with the win. She added to her team lead in homers as well, hitting her 15th of the season.

“Valerie is a five-tool player. She’s a gifted softball player and pitcher,” Rittman said. “She’s only a freshman and she’s only going to get better.”

Cagle outdueled Virginia Tech starter Keely Rochard, who was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year.

Cagle struck out seven in the complete-game shutout. She allowed three hits and walked a pair of batters.

Rochard had a solid outing as well, allowing two runs in six innings of work. She surrendered four hits and walked five.

Clemson used small-ball to take an early 1-0 lead as Alia Logoleo scored from third on a bunt single by Grace Mattimore in the second inning.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 2-0 in the third inning on Cagle’s homer. Virginia Tech got the leadoff batter on in four of the seven innings, but Cagle did an excellent job of working out of trouble.

“We’re excited and we’ll be ready for whoever we play tomorrow,” Rittman said. “Certainly both of those programs are great. They’re complete. They have good pitching, they play good defense, they hit the ball… I know it’ll be a great game tomorrow.”