CLEMSON – Jamison Brockenbrough knows her way around an NCAA Tournament selection show. The cameras, the team-issued outfits, the pageantry– and the chance to keep competing.

The centerfielder has been a part of three postseason appearances at two different schools and with Clemson’s selection to the 2026 Athens (Georgia) Regional, she will now extend her streak to four consecutive seasons with a chance to play for a national title.

“I mean definitely don’t take anything for granted because it’s a blessing to even be here and put on the jersey,” Brockenbrough said.  “Just compete and fight with everything you have because you know you never know when it’s going to come to an end.”

On Sunday, the Tigers (32-20) were selected as one of four No. 6 seeds in a field of 64, with Georgia, (38-18) the regional host, coming in as the No. 10 overall seed. The selection marks the sixth-straight year Clemson has advanced to the NCAA postseason, and the Tigers have now advanced to a Regional in every year they have been eligible in program history.

Similarly, Brockenbrough has never missed a postseason appearance in her four years at the collegiate level. The senior played in the Women’s College World Series as a freshman at Tennessee, recording multiple at-bats in each game. The next season, she was injured as the Volunteers fell in a Super Regional against Alabama.

Last season, her first at Clemson, Brockenbrough helped lead her team to its first ACC Championship and third Super Regional. This year, in her final season suiting up for Clemson, she has maintained a team-high .342 average, notching 54 hits and 31 RBIs as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter.

Now, the veteran will have a chance to impart wisdom to her team as the sole owner of the most postseason experience on head coach John Rittman’s team. For the first time in her career, however, Brockenbrough will start the postseason away from her home stadium, in her home state of Georgia.

“Last year we knew that we were going to host and so this year we were just eager to see where we were going to go,” she said. “Super happy with the turnout and know that we can compete really well against good teams.”

While the vast majority of Clemson’s starters this season are underclassmen, several will enter next weekend with postseason experience, as sophomores like Macey Cintron, Marian Collins, Taylor Pipkins, and Kylee Johnson each notched playing time in the Clemson Regional and Austin (Texas) Super Regional appearances last year.

Rittman believes the addition of postseason experience from his team will help the Tigers fight through the initial nerves of playing with extra gravity and stakes this May.

“I think our younger players are going to draw from our veterans and our leaders and what to expect and how to handle regional and postseason and media and all those different things,” the seventh-year Tigers’ coach said. “But once the game starts, it’s still softball. So, we’ll rely on our leadership to kind of help us get prepared.”

In Clemson’s 10-1 run-rule victory over Georgia on Feb 25, Tiger returners from last year combined for eight hits en route to the upset win. When Clemson played the College of Charleston, (30-28) another team in the Athens Regional, veterans combined for five of the Tigers’ eight hits in their 7-0 win.

Both victories marked two high points of the Tigers’ season, in which they run-ruled 12 teams and defeated 10 Top 25 opponents, but also suffered 20 losses, the most in program history.

“Really excited for our team, this never gets old,” Rittman said.  “We’ve had a really interesting type of year for Clemson. We’ve played the toughest schedule that we’ve played in the history of our program and had a few ups and downs. It’s been an interesting journey that we’ve been on this year and really really pleased to see where we’re seeded and the opportunity again to go down and compete in a very competitive regional in Athens.”

The Tigers will have their first shot to get in the winner’s bracket of the Athens Regional Friday, when Clemson will match up against UNC Greensboro, (42-17) the winners of the Southern Conference Championship. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m., and coverage will be shown on ACCN.

The Tigers and the Spartans last played in the Clemson Regional in 2023, when Clemson took home a dominant 17-1 win. 

However, this time, it will be an all-new team facing UNC Greensboro. While the team may be young, however, veteran leadership will go a long way in the Tigers’ hopes to make a deep postseason push.