2021 Clemson Tigers softball team

2021 Clemson Tigers softball
ACC regular-season champions
NCAA tournament, 2–2
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Record	44–8 (29–5 ACC)
Head coach	John Rittman (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Kyle Jamieson Courtney Breault
Home stadium	McWhorter Stadium

2021 Atlantic Coast Conference softball standings

	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
No. 18 Clemson  ‍†‍‍y	29	–	5	–	0		.853			44	–	8	–	0		.846
No. 2 Florida State  ‍‍‍y	26	–	5	–	1		.828			49	–	12	–	1		.798
No. 20 Duke  ‍‍‡‍y	26	–	10	–	0		.722			44	–	12	–	0		.786
No. 14 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍y	23	–	11	–	0		.676			37	–	15	–	0		.712
Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y	20	–	10	–	0		.667			33	–	15	–	0		.688
Louisville  ‍‍‍	15	–	21	–	1		.419			21	–	28	–	1		.430
NC State  ‍‍‍	15	–	22	–	0		.405			26	–	25	–	0		.510
Syracuse  ‍‍‍	12	–	20	–	0		.375			20	–	24	–	0		.455
Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍	11	–	19	–	0		.367			20	–	26	–	0		.435
North Carolina  ‍‍‍	10	–	19	–	0		.345			14	–	26	–	0		.350
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍	12	–	24	–	0		.333			17	–	29	–	0		.370
Virginia  ‍‍‍	10	–	27	–	0		.270			15	–	33	–	0		.313
Boston College  ‍‍‍	8	–	24	–	0		.250			13	–	32	–	0		.289
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 15, 2021 Rankings from NFCA/USA Today

The 2021 Clemson Tigers softball team is the varsity college softball team that represented Clemson University during the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. This was the second season of Clemson's softball program. The Tigers competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and were led by head coach John Rittman. Clemson played its home games at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

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 Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech before losing to Duke in the Final. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were placed into the Tuscaloosa Regional. There they defeated Troy twice, but lost to Alabama 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 John Rittman 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

2021 Clemson Tigers roster
Pitchers 10 – Emma Whitfield – Freshman 17 – Regan Spencer – Freshman 34 – Logan Caymol – Freshman Utility 9 – Sarah Howell (C/UTL) – Freshman 12 – Cammy Pereira (INF/OF) – Junior 15 – Madison May (INF/OF) – Freshman 19 – Jaden Cheek (INF/UTL) – Freshman 24 – Arielle Oda (INF/OF) – Freshman 25 – Marissa Guimbarda (OF/UTL) – Junior 26 – Carsten Puckett (P/IF) – Freshman 27 – Grace Mattimore (C/UTL) – Junior 72 – Valerie Cagle (P/UTL) – Freshman 87 – Millie Thompson (P/INF) – Freshman		Catchers 13 – Abi Stuart – Freshman 23 – JoJo Hyatt – Freshman Outfielders 6 – Carlee Shannon – Freshman 7 – McKenzie Clark – Freshman 16 – Alia Logoleo – Freshman 42 – Morgan Johnson – Freshman Infielders 2 – Casey Bigham – Senior 3 – Ansley Houston – Freshman 8 – Ansley Gilstrap – Senior 18 – Bailey Taylor – Junior 58 – Kyah Keller – Freshman 77 – Hannah Goodwin – Freshman

Coaches

2021 Clemson Tigers softball coaching staff
John Rittman – Head coach – 2nd season Kyle Jamieson – Assistant coach – 2nd season Courtney Breault – Assistant coach – 2nd season Reese Jacobs – Volunteer assistant coach – 2nd season

Schedule

Legend
	Clemson win
	Clemson loss
	Cancellation
Bold	Clemson team member
*	Non-Conference game
†	Make-Up Game

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

Rankings

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I softball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
NFCA / USA Today	—	RV	RV	RV	25	23	20	18	18	17	16	13т	13	13	13	13*	18
Softball America	—	—	—	—	24	22	21	20	19	19	16	13	13	13	14	22	22
ESPN.com/USA Softball	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	19	18	18	16	13	11	10	10	10*	17
D1Softball	—	—	—	25	25	25	23	23	20	19	18	15	15	16	17	17*	19

* 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.