The 2021 Clemson Tigers softball team is the varsity

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

team that represented Clemson University during the

2021 NCAA Division I softball season The 2021 NCAA Division I Softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2021. The season progressed through the regular se ...

. This was the second season of Clemson's softball program. The Tigers competed in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) and were led by head coach

John Rittman John Richard Rittman (born October 5, 1963) is an American college softball coach, serving as the inaugural head coach of the Clemson Tigers softball team. He previously served as head coach at Stanford and an assistant with USA Softball, Kansas ...

. Clemson played its home games at McWhorter Stadium in

Clemson, South Carolina Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-gown" ...

. The Tigers finished their first full season as a program 44–8 and 29–5 in ACC play to finish in first place and claim the regular season championship. As the first seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated and before losing to in the Final. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were placed into the Tuscaloosa Regional. There they defeated

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

twice, but lost to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

twice to end their season. The team was led by Valerie Cagle who finished with 28 wins and 15 home runs. Cagle was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year top 10 finalist list. She also won ACC Player and Freshman of the year while head coach

was named ACC Coach of the Year. Cagle and outfielder McKenzie Clark were named to the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association All-Region Southeast teams, with Cagle being named to the first team and Clark being named to the second team. Cagle would later be selected to the NFCA All-American Second Team, marking Clemson's first All-American in program history.

Previous season

The 2020 season was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. On March 12, it was announced that the 2020 NCAA tournament would be canceled due to the pandemic. Clemson University suspended all events until April 5, 2020. On March 17, the ACC cancelled all spring athletic activities and thereby ended the softball season. The Tigers finished the season 19–8 and 5–1 in ACC play.

Personnel

Roster

Coaches

Schedule

Note: All rankings shown are from the NFCA/USA Today poll.

Rankings

* Softball America released a poll on May 25, 2021, during the NCAA tournament while all other polls did not release a poll. Pre-tournament rankings for NCFA, USA, and D1 Softball are shown for week 15 rankings.

References

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