CLEMSON — As Clemson basketball was going on its run in the ACC, spring football was ramping up and baseball was off to one of its hottest starts in over two decades, no one was paying attention to the softball team.

It was sort of understandable. John Rittman’s Tigers had to replace a national player of the year, perhaps the best centerfielder in the ACC, a lefty in the circle and one of the best power hitters in the country.

Expectations were not high for the Clemson softball program in 2025, yet, with the regular season complete, the Tigers have won 38 of their last 44 games and currently sit in third place in the ACC standings (19-5) and have won 40-plus games for the fourth time in the last five years.

“As a coach, after the second week of the season, you start looking at where the wins are going to come…I would have given a lot of money back then if you said we were going to be 19-5 in the conference and be in third place with the opportunity to finish in second place after the last weekend of play,” Rittman said earlier this week on the show Out of Bounds on The Roar 105.5 FM in the Upstate.

But here they are.

The Tigers (41-12) are ranked No. 12 in the country, according to D1 Softball and rank No. 14 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings. Like Rittman said, after a 3-6 start to the season, no one saw the Clemson softball team contending for another ACC Championship with a chance to host a Regional and maybe a Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament.

“It is a testament to our team, their hard work…certainly when you play a 24-game conference season you are going to have a few that you won that we should not have and lost that we should not have,” Rittman said. “I am really proud of the effort and just where we are at as a program. I love the fight of this team, and we certainly have a very bring future ahead.”

Clemson’s resume is good enough to be in the top 8 seed discussion for the NCAA Tournament, which starts in two weeks. The Tigers have seven wins over top 25 teams, including one against previously top-ranked Tennessee.

The Tigers also have 17 wins over teams ranked in the top 41 of the RPI, including four top 15 wins. If they can make it to and win the ACC Tournament Championship, they could notch three more victories against Top 20 RPI opponents – No. 6 Florida State, No. 11 Duke and No. 18 Virginia Tech.

“Certainly, we have an opportunity to host the first-round regionals,” Rittman said. “I think if we make a run at the ACC Tournament (Championship), you certainly could put yourself in the top eight and have an opportunity, if you win the regional, to host a super regional. But I really don’t want to get into too much of it.

“We built a good resume up to this point. I think we are No. 14 in the RPI right now and that is certainly the criteria the committee looks at. I have been in this long enough to know that when you get people in a room trying to figure out seeds, a lot can happen. So, I just worry about what we can do and right now our focus is to finish the semester strong.”

Clemson is off this weekend before heading to Chestnut Hill, Mass., for the ACC Tournament, which runs May 7-10. Boston College is the host school.