ATHENS, Ga. – It is very rare that a pitcher can throw a full seven-inning game, allowing no earned runs, and still suffer a loss.

In Clemson’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of UNC Greensboro at Jack Turner Stadium at the Athens (Georgia) Regional Friday that was the case for hurler Abby Dunning.

After allowing one first-inning hit, Clemson’s (32-21) first of three fielding errors allowed a runner to score, deciding the game prematurely. Still, Dunning gave her squad a chance to win.

“Obviously a difficult loss today,” head coach John Rittman said in the postgame. “I felt like Abby Dunning pitched her butt off out there. We made a costly mistake in the first inning and never recovered. We couldn’t score a run when we needed to.”

Dunning struck out seven batters in her outing Friday, tying a season-high in her first year at Clemson. Her fastball speeds reached 70 miles-per-hour, fooling Spartan (43-17) hitters into big, hacking swings and weak contact. Additionally, Dunning walked only one batter and gave up only two hits in the full game. 

The Tigers’ offense, in contrast, finished with five hits on the day and two extra-base hits, while UNC Greensboro’s hits off of Dunning were both singles. Still, when asked about her performance postgame, the senior still made sure to deflect any credit.

“I was trying to just compete every pitch, but honestly, (Catcher) Corri (Hicks) made me look so good,” Dunning said. “And my defense had my back and they helped me get out of some jams. So, credit to the defense.”

While Dunning’s defense, primarily centerfielder Jamison Brockenbrough, did help her out with two diving plays to rob hits, the Chicago, Ill., native was fully responsible for much of her own success. Dunning threw 69 strikes out of her 112 pitches, finishing with a 62-percent strike rate.

The performance, though resulting in a defeat, brought her Earned Run Average down almost an entire point, or expected run, per game.

And while Spartan hitters were excited to celebrate their first-ever NCAA Tournament win after the game, first baseman Hadley Gardner made sure to give Dunning praise after finishing 0-for-3 at the plate in her presser.

“(Dunning) did a lot of good stuff,” Gardner said. “She was getting ahead early in the count but I think we had a lot of good conversations about going at her and attacking her.”

Friday night’s game also held a little extra juice for Dunning, who spent the first four years of her collegiate career at Boston College, where she never competed in a postseason tournament. Now, in what could be her last weekend as a Tiger and as a college softball player, the stakes felt a little higher for Clemson’s bright spot.

“This is my first postseason so, I’m really excited to be here and everybody here is good,” she said. “We’re just coming out with the mentality that like everyone is a good player and we need to beat the people in front of us and I think that’s our mindset for tomorrow is we’re going to take two.” 

The Tigers will need Dunning– and her mentality– again if they hope to advance to the championship round of the Athens Regional on Sunday. Clemson needs to win two games Saturday, and secure another victory Sunday to return to the Upstate with a victory and a continued season.

With Dunning pitching from the circle how she was Friday, and her “adrenaline” pumping for the postseason, a deeper run seems plausible to Rittman.

“I’m very confident we have the pitching staff to do it and we got to figure out ways to hit the ball and score some runs,” Rittman said. “But, I think we’re built to make a run in the losers bracket.”

Clemson will get its chance to claw out of the losers’ bracket on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., when it faces the College of Charleston in Game 4 of the Athens Regional.