Clemson tops Troy, advances to Tuscaloosa Regional final vs. Alabama

Clemson softball isn’t done yet.

The Tigers beat Troy 4-2 Saturday evening at Rhoads Stadium in an elimination game in the Tuscaloosa Regional to advance to the regional final against Alabama.

The No. 2 seed Tigers will face No. 1 seed Alabama at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Clemson must beat the Crimson Tide twice — once at 2 p.m. and again at 4:30 p.m. — to advance to a Super Regional.

Clemson lost to Alabama 6-0 earlier Saturday to fall into an elimination game against Troy, before beating the Trojans to keep its season alive.

“The toughest thing to do in a regional format is to come back after a tough loss,” Tigers coach John Rittman said. “We used up a lot of emotional, mental, physical energy in that first game… very proud of our pitching staff and the way they handled this game.”

A day after Clemson earned an 8-0 run-rule win over Troy, the Tigers struggled against the Trojans on Saturday.

The two teams were tied 1-1 entering the seventh inning, before Clemson took the lead.

Morgan Johnson led off the seventh inning with a pinch-hit double and scored later in the inning on a McKenzie Clark single to give the Tigers the lead.

Clemson extended its lead later in the inning on an RBI single by Ansley Gilstrap, before Alia Logoleo added an RBI single of her own to give the Tigers a three-run advantage.

“To have MoJo come off the bench with a huge double to spark us, just a phenomenal job,” Rittman said. “We fought through some mistakes and found a way to win this game against a very good Troy team to give us an opportunity to play for a regional championship tomorrow.”

Troy put runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Tigers ace Valerie Cagle shut the door to finish off the win.

Cagle tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory and improve to 28-6 on the year.

Clemson’s 6-0 loss to Alabama earlier in the day was not indicative of how close the game was. The Tigers committed a pair of errors in the loss, and four of the six runs were unearned.

Alabama’s lead was only 2-0 entering the sixth, before some miscues by Clemson allowed the Crimson Tide to pull away.

The Tigers managed just four hits off Alabama ace Montana Fouts and will need to do a better job at the plate on Sunday to upset the No. 3 national.

“We’ve gotta do a better job offensively,” Rittman said. “From an offensive standpoint, we’ve gotta get some timely hits, keep getting baserunners on and give ourselves some opportunities. From a defensive standpoint, we’ve gotta keep their speed off the base. We’ve gotta make the slappers hit the ball by us. We cannot let them beat us in front.”