Tigers Today: Clemson softball lands in top 15 of preseason poll

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Clemson softball lands in top 15 of preseason poll

In just its second year of competition, Clemson won the ACC regular-season title and nearly won the conference tournament. The Tigers went on to make the NCAA Tournament, losing to Alabama in the finals of the Tuscaloosa Regional.

Now they reload a year later, with more postseason experience and their top player returning. Valerie Cagle was the ACC Player and Freshman of the Year, hitting .404 while her 1.16 ERA ranked 11th nationally.

All of this has the Tigers slated at No. 14 overall in the preseason poll released by D1 Softball on Monday. Oklahoma won the national title last season and is still at No. 1 overall to open the season. Alabama, which finished 52-9 a year ago, comes behind in second. Florida State is the top-ranked ACC team, coming in at No. 6.

Clemson opens the season on Feb. 10 against Florida Gulf Coast in the FGCU Kickoff Classic. The Tigers open up play at McWhorter Stadium on Feb. 25 against Boston University.

After adding first transfer, where else Clemson could look in portal for help

Clemson finally dipped into the transfer portal on Monday, landing former Northwestern quarterback Hunter Johnson.

The former five-star recruit, who started his career at Clemson in 2017, is returning to play for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers after spending the previous four years at Northwestern.

Johnson is the first transfer portal addition for Dabo Swinney, but he won’t be the last. Clemson Sports broke down other positions where it makes sense for the Tigers to go to the portal.

2022 prediction in for Clemson, notes on multiple four-star juniors

There is a lot of Clemson-related news to unpack in this Tuesday’s recruiting insider notebook.

Clemson Sports has been informed that a 2022 target for the Tigers is back on the market. We also have updates on a couple of other senior targets for Dabo Swinney’s staff.

Stay tuned for some notes on a pair of Class of 2023 recruits that are high on the Tigers’ radar. Get the latest in Clemson football recruiting down below, and join the discussion on the Tigers Den message board.

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