CLEMSON — Ole Miss came into Friday’s game at Clemson with a 10-game winning streak. However, the Rebels left McWhorter Stadium with its first loss since Feb. 8.
The 10th-ranked Tigers got two hits and an RBI from McKenzie Clark, while Valerie Cagle drove in two runs and earned her third win in the circle, as they won their home opener with a 9-1 victory over the Rebels.
Aby Vieira had a two-run double down the leftfield line to end the game in the bottom of the sixth inning to run rule Ole Miss.
“Ole Miss is a very good team,” Clemson head coach John Rittman said. “They have a lot of postseason experience. Their starting pitcher is a fifth-year senior. They are a very well-coached team. This was a great battle for us and where we want to go, we need to win games like tonight.
“I really liked the way we exploded offensively and kind of made it easy on ourselves.”
Vieira finished the day 2-for4 at the plate, while Clark and Brown were 2-for-3.
Clemson (8-2) also got RBIs from Brown and Maddie Moore.
“We have been working a lot on finding our pitches and finding our zone, and I think I focused a lot on that in practice,” Vieira said about her 2-for-4 day at the plate. “I was just staying true to what my zone is rather than chasing pitchers’ pitches. I think that was the difference, just doing what I did in practice this week.”
Besides her two-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning, which blew the game open, Cagle allowed just one run on four hits, while striking out eight batters and walking three in six innings of work.
The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a Vieira single to right field and an Ole Miss throwing error with two outs that allowed Vieira to come home with the second run.
Vieira’s hit scored Maddie Moore for the game’s first run.
The Rebels (10-2) bounced back with a run in the top of third inning. Cagle gave up a hit and walked two batters, while a throwing error allowed Jamie Mackay to come home for Ole Miss.
Clemson extended its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning by loading the bases with no outs. After Brown was hit by a pitch to score a run, Clark brought home another run with a single to left field for a 4-1 lead.
Cagle followed and helped her own cause with a double to left centerfield, which scored two more runs for a 6-1 lead.
UP NEXT
Clemson will host Miami of Ohio at 1:30 on Saturday and then UConn following the Miami game.
Get your signed Valerie Cagle replica road sign today. The nation’s top player has signed a limited number of these signs that have the same properties as a road sign.
