No. 6 FSU Softball travels to No. 4 Clemson for important matchup: preview, how to watch, game thread

Pivotal ACC series between the Seminoles and Tigers

By gwynrhodes@okaygwyn Updated Apr 7, 2023, 1:00pm EDT

Thursday’s game of the Florida State Seminoles at Clemson Tigers will be the first ever games played for the two at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, SC. After Clemson began their program in 2020, they have seen the Seminoles 4 times, with FSU claiming all games. All four games came last season, as FSU swept the Tigers in Tallahassee, and took the ACC Tournament title from the Orange and Purple, up in Pittsburgh.

With that, the Tigers are off to their best start in program history. Overall, they are 37-1 and 12-0 in the ACC. Their only loss came in late February against Tennessee. They return an impactful lineup from last season, as well as grabbing key graduate players out of the transfer portal.

Tiger Transfers

Coming from FGCU, Reedy Davenport joins the Clemson infield for 2023. As a highly decorated player in the ASUN, she is batting .366 as a Tiger. In 37 games, Davenport has 10 R, 30 H, 5 2B, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 6 BB and is 1-1 in SB.

As an inter-conference transfer from Duke, Carolina Jacobsen is also spending her last season with Clemson. Batting .337, Jacobsen holds an OPS of 1.084 with 27 R, 35 H, 9 2B, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 13 BB, and 6-8 in SB.

Out of the BIG 10, Ally Miklesh takes a spot as a Wisconsin transfer. After leading the Badgers in stolen bases last year, she has translated that to Clemson. In addition to a team leading 12-13 stolen bases, The .371 hitter has 26 R, 26 H, 3 2B, 11 RBI, and 21 BB in 36 games played.

Other Key Offensive Players

Returning from last season is McKenzie Clark, who has been a staple in the lineup. Third on the team in batting average, Clark has a .352 average with 38 R, 37 H, 7 2B, 9 HR, 31 RBI, team leading 22 BB and 10-12 in stolen bags.

Valerie Cagle also is yet again one of the most important players for Clemson. At the plate, she is leading in almost every offensive category. With a .481 batting average, she has 35 R, 52 H, 11 2B, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 17 BB and only 13 K. Cagle is the only player with double digit homeruns and doubles.

Overall, the Tigers have 12 players batting over .300, with 8 players who have 15 or more RBI.

Pitching Performance

Just like last season, Cagle is the ace in the circle. Leading with 110.1 innings pitched, she has a 0.44 ERA 18-1 on the season, Cagle has thrown 13 complete games with , 59 H, 11 R, 16 BB, 125 K, 0 HR and a .155 B/AVG.

Returning behind Cagle is Millie Thompson, who is the only pitcher, out of 4, to have over a 1.00 ERA. Sitting at 1.25, Thompson has 61.2 innings with 11 wins. In her outings, she has 43 H, 13 R, 10 BB, 54 SO, 2 HR and a .196 B/AVG.

As a staff, Clemson has a nation leading .70 ERA with Brooke McCubbin and Reagan Spencer both holding sub 1.00 ERAs in over 20 innings.

Seminole Headlines

FSU has outscored ACC opponents 58-7
Devyn Flaherty could crack into the top 10 all time for stolen bases at FSU. With 74 stolen bases, she is 1 away from a two way tie for 10th.