For the second straight season, the Clemson softball program will host a regional.

“I mean, it’s a new season,” head coach John Rittman said of the regional. “We’ve had a rough month of April. We responded a little bit last week and I liked the way we came to work this week. I think having a new start is good for our program.”

The 16th-seeded Tigers will play host to Auburn, Cal State Fullerton and UNC Greensboro. UNCG visited the Tigers earlier in the season, something Rittman is drawing on entering their opening matchup.

“They’re a team that plays in a tough mid-major conference,” Rittman said. “They’re a team that never quits. They continue to battle. We played them earlier this year and I know they’re going to come in here ready to shock the world.”

Clemson has recent postseason history with Auburn, which was a participant in last year’s regional at McWhorter Stadium. The home Tigers defeated the visitors 1-0.

“Specifically, they have the SEC Pitcher of the Year (Maddie Penta),” Rittman continued. “They’re healthy this year. They play really good defense.”

Rittman identified one problem ahead of regional play that his team must correct in order to truly compete for a national title this postseason.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting runners on and having timely hits,” Rittman said. “I think in our individual approaches, we’ve got to get aggressive early in counts. We’ve got to compete better.”

“I know our team’s worked really hard to come out and be better offensively this weekend,” Rittman concluded.

Clemson’s game against UNCG on Friday is set for 3 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

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