No. 4 Clemson defeated the Syracuse Orange in the first of two games at McWhorter Stadium on Saturday by a score of 4-1. It all came down to a pair of back-to-back home runs hit by second baseman Maddie Moore and two-way player Valerie Cagle in the third inning along with Arielle Oda’s clutch two-RBI triple hit in the sixth.

Clemson’s ace Valerie Cagle earned the win, throwing eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one run en route to her eighth win of 2023 in the circle while Syracuse left-hander Lindsey Hendrix tallied the loss.

After two scoreless innings for both ball clubs, Clemson tacked on the first two runs of the day in the bottom of the third thanks to two back-to-back solo shots over the centerfield wall off the bats of Moore and Cagle, giving the Tigers the 2-0 lead after three.

Despite a clutch grab by Alia Logoelo down the left field line to start off the inning, Syracuse scored its first run of the day off of infielder Kelly Breen’s RBI single that scored outfielder Angel Jasso in the sixth. Later on in the sixth, Clemson scored two more runs off of Oda’s two-RBI triple, her first of the season, for a final score of 4-1.

Oda led the Tigers offensively, hitting 1-for-2 at the plate along with a game-sealing two-RBI triple.

Next up, the Tigers play their second game of the day against Syracuse at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, S.C. with first pitch is set to leave the circle at 3:32pm on ACCNX.

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