CLEMSON — There are several reasons why No. 11 national seed Clemson has won 41 of its last 47 games on the softball diamond.

The Tigers, who host the Clemson (NCAA) Regional this weekend at McWhorter Stadium, have star players like All-American Maddie Moore, All-ACC third baseman Alex Brown, catcher Aby Vieira and first baseman Julia Knowler to help pick the team up at the plate and in the field.

Freshmen Macy Cintron, Marian Collins and Taylor Pipkins bring a youthful energy to the dugout, while also making clutch plays in big-game situations.

Then there are the two leaders in the circle – ACC Pitcher of the Year Reese Basinger and perhaps the Tigers’ most improved player Brook McCubbin.

Basinger and McCubbin have become a one-two punch that helped the Tigers (44-12) knock off top eight national seeds Florida State, Tennessee and South Carolina in the last month of the season, while running the table and winning the program its first ACC Tournament Championship.

“The longer we have played together, we have really figured out our dynamic,” Basinger said.

Their dynamic has kept hitters off balance for the most part. Reese starts the game, sometimes pitching three or four innings, while McCubbin comes in and finishes things off.

“I feel like our different pitching styles throw hitters off,” McCubbin said. “Reese does a really good job of getting us off to a great start in games and I think the coaches do a great job switching us out and picking a good time to make a change.”

It has been a perfect fit for a Clemson pitching staff that had to replace two of the best pitchers in the country the last five years in Valerie Cagle and Millie Thompson.

“I personally like starting, and closing makes be really nervous,” Basinger said. “And I know Brooke will say the exact opposite, so I think we have meshed really well. Our pitching styles work well in games and throw hitters off whenever we switch.”

Basinger has started and pitched the majority of Clemson’s innings this year. She is 16-5 in 38 appearances with 10 complete games, which led the ACC, and pitched 158 innings.

Pitching with a 2.92 ERA, she has 114 strikeouts and a 3-1 strikeouts-to-walk ratio.

McCubbin is also 16-5 and has appeared in 35 games with a 2.75 ERA. She has thrown in a career-best 119.2 innings and has 75 strikeouts.

“She has pitched behind Valerie, Millie and Regan [Spencer] for three years and it is her time to shine,” Clemson head coach John Rittman said about McCubbin.

The senior really has shined in the second half of the season, as she has come into relieve Basinger in most cases and has been lights out in the circle.

“She got off to a slow start, but once she started buying into her role, she really started gaining confidence,” Rittman said. “She has the maturity, she has the experience, it was really just gaining some confidence for Brooke.

“Once she got that confidence, she has really been great the second half of the season.”

And she has helped Clemson get back to hosting an NCAA Regional.

“Being able to mesh with Reese and Macey and have a really tight nit bullpen has been really helpful to me. No matter what, someone has my back,” McCubbin said.

Clemson is scheduled to host USC Upstate in Game 2 of the Clemson Regional on Friday at 4 p.m.