CLEMSON – After hosting a regional twice in the last three years, hitting the road this weekend may seem like a change for Clemson Softball, a No. 6 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament field. The Tigers are headed to the Athens (Georgia) Regional, which begins Friday.

However, with nine players hailing from the Peach State, and familiar competition also arriving at Jack Turner Softball Stadium, Clemson may have the closest substitute to a home field.

“I think it’s extra special with a lot of us being from Georgia, a little hometown moment for a lot of us,” right fielder Taylor Pipkins said. “And I feel like we’re going to have a good fan show out, a lot of support. I’m just really excited.”

Though the seeding was configured differently for this year’s tournament, dividing brackets into quadrants with the top-eight teams ranked in each sector, the Tigers will be the traditional No. 2 seed in the Athens Regional, with host Georgia coming in as the top seed. The College of Charleston is the fourth ranked squad, while UNC Greensboro is third and will play Clemson in Game 1.

Both the College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro won their respective conference championships to advance to the NCAA Tournament, while Clemson and Georgia were selected as at-large bids.

Here is what to expect from each definite and potential opponent for Clemson, and the series history with each team.

UNC Greensboro (42-17)

The Tigers (32-20) face off against UNC Greensboro at 4:30 p.m., on Friday.

The Spartans earned their seventh SoCon regular season title and fourth tournament title, finishing with their best record since 2018. That season, in a historic turn, UNC Greensboro advanced to South Carolina’s Regional after winning another conference championship. 

Four of the top 11 leaders in batting average and three of the top seven home run leaders in the Southern Conference come from the Spartans’ team. Infielder Nya South ranks second in the conference with 17 home runs this season, maintaining a .385 batting average. 

The UNCG ranks second in runs scored, hits, and runs batted in in the conference. 

In the circle, UNC Greensboro ranks first in ERA (2.20), strikeouts, and walks and hits per inning pitched. Junior Brooklyn Shroyer leads the charge for the pitching staff, accumulating a 21-6 record in 33 appearances this season. The right-hander holds a 1.41 ERA and will most likely face the Tigers on Friday.

The Spartans struggled early against non-conference opponents, but finished 17-4 in the SoCon. They have not faced ACC or SEC competition this year. 

Clemson holds a 3-1 record over UNC Greensboro in all meetings, with two wins coming in the Clemson Classic in 2023, and another in the Clemson Regional later that year. The Tigers’ one loss to the Spartans came in a 3-2 defeat in 2020, Clemson’s inaugural season.

Jojo Hyatt, a former five-year starting catcher for Clemson, serves as an assistant coach for UNCG. She is now in her second year with the program. Partially because of Hyatt, Clemson head coach John Rittman has kept up with UNC Greensboro’s program this year.

“I know they have a pitcher that’s got a low ERA,” he said. “They’ve hit 70 home runs as a team. I’ve done a little bit of homework on them. I’ve watched a little bit of their games because of Jojo, obviously, this year and they’re a well coached team really. You know they seem to win the SoCon just about every year and we know we’ll get a tough, tough game with them.”

College of Charleston (30-28) 

With a 5-0 win over Hofstra on May 9, the College of Charleston notched its first-ever Coastal Athletic Association Championship, qualifying for its second regional appearance in program history, and first in over 20 years.

While it is not certain that Clemson will play the Cougars this weekend, they could match up if both teams win or lose their first game. Charleston is set to play Georgia in Game 2 on Friday.

Charleston ranked sixth in their conference in batting average, fifth in RBIs, and eighth in home runs this season. The Cougars have four everyday stars with averages over .300, but no player with more than five home runs. 

The team ranks seventh in conference with a 4.46 ERA, though Cougar pitchers held their last four opponents to a combined three runs to win the conference championship and earn the SoCon’s automatic bid. 

The Cougars were 1-5 this season against Power Four competition, including a 7-0 loss to Clemson on March 4. The meeting marked the first time the two in-state programs had ever played in Clemson’s seven-year history.

No. 3 Georgia (38-18)

Clemson made a statement on Feb. 25 when it marched down to Athens and handed the Bulldogs, then a top-10 team, a 10-1 loss. Now, the Tigers head back to the scene of the crime in hopes of knocking off the No. 10 overall seed, again, but this time for a shot to advance to a Super Regional.

Georgia and Clemson have played in six of the Tigers’ seven seasons of existence, and the Tigers hold a 4-2 edge in all meetings, outscoring the Bulldogs by a 29-11 margin across three games at home and three away.

The loss to Clemson sparked a five-game winning streak for Georgia, which finished second in the SEC in batting average. The Bulldogs hit 73 home runs and 100 doubles en route to four conference series wins and a Semifinal appearance in the SEC Tournament.

Eight of Georgia’s usual starters hold above a .300 average, and five players have notched nine or more homers this season. Outfielder Delani Sullivan, a Kentucky transfer who faced Clemson in a regional last year, leads the pack with 14 long-balls and senior Jaydyn Goodwin has earned a team-high .413 average this year.

The Bulldogs rank 10th in the SEC with a 3.37 ERA, walking 188 batters while striking out 300 this season. The 10 runs allowed to Clemson tied for a season-high in a single game. 

Nine different Tiger players combined for 12 hits against Randi Roelling, Georgia’s No. 1 starter in the circle, and highly-used Destin Howard in the last meeting. Centerfielder Jamison Brockenbrough, first baseman Mac Pavese, and left fielder Kylee Johnson each had multi-hit performances.

That victory, according to Brockenbrough, gives Clemson an extra jolt of confidence heading into a hostile environment that helped the Bulldogs go 25-9 at home this year.

“I think it makes us really confident,” she said of the win. “But then again, it’s one game at a time, so we can’t look past UNCCG and look too far ahead to play Georgia, but I think we’re really excited knowing that we’ve played these teams either this year or last year. So, it makes us excited to go out there and know who we’re competing against.”

While the entirety of Clemson’s team has played Georgia at least once, with Brockenbrough and other veterans notching multiple appearances against their home state foe, Rittman, maybe more than anyone, understands the gravity of the rivalry.

“Georgia, you know, it’s a rivalry game,” Rittman said. “We play them every year and so it’s going to be a tough, tough weekend, a tough regional, and we’re looking forward to it.”

While the Tigers have never won a regional tournament at any location other than McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, they are one of only six teams to defeat the Bulldogs at home this year, and have won the last two matchups between the two.

The Tigers enter NCAA play as the only team in the tournament to have defeated all three teams in its regional in the last three seasons, and as the only challenger with two wins against regional opponents this season.

Additionally, the Tigers have a strong history in peaking later in the season, holding a 12-5 record or 71 percent winning percentage, in regional tournaments. 

And though it may not be held at McWhorter Stadium this season, the Tigers are arguably the most equipped team to make an upset run this postseason. It all starts on Friday.