2023 Softball - Clemson Regional Tournament

[Golden Eagle 368]

CLEMSON REGIONAL SCHEDULE & RESULTS

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GAME 1:  #1 Seed Clemson vs #4 Seed UNC Greensboro;  Friday, May 19 @2:00 pm CDT;  ESPNU

Final:  Clemson 17 -  UNC Greensboro 2   (Clemson run-ruled UNC Greensboro in 5 innings.)

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GAME 2:  #2 Seed Auburn vs #3 Seed Cal State Fullerton; Friday, May 19 @4:30pm CDT; ESPN+

Final:  Auburn 12 - Cal State Fullerton 2 (Auburn run-ruled Cal State Fullerton in 5 innings.)

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GAME 3:  #1 Seed Clemson vs #2 Seed Auburn; Saturday, May 20 @noon CDT; ESPN

Final:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 7.   A beat-down by Clemson.  Auburn will play in game 5 @5:00pm  5:30pm CDT in a win or go home loser's bracket.

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GAME 4:  #3 Seed Cal State Fullerton vs #4 Seed UNC Greensboro; Saturday, May 20 @2:30 CDT; ESPN+

Final:  Cal State Fullerton 5 - UNC Greensboro 0  (UNC Greensboro's 2nd loss eliminates them from the competiton)

*************************************************************************************

GAME 5:  #2 Seed Auburn vs #3 Seed Cal State Fullerton; Saturday, May 20 @5:30pm CDT; ESPN+ (winner plays Sunday, loser goes home)

Final:  Auburn 5 - Cal State Fullerton 0.  (CSF's 2nd loss eliminates them from the competition)

Due to a long rain delay, this game didn't finish until about 10:15 pm CDT.  Short turnaround for Auburn for game 6 at 11:00am CDT Sunday.

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GAME 6:  #1 Seed Clemson vs #2 Seed Auburn; Sunday, May 21 @11:00am CDT; ESPN2

Final:  Auburn 5 - Clemson 2  AUBURN WINS AND FORCES A GAME 7!!!

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GAME 7:  Championship Game.  #1 Seed Clemson vs #2 Seed Auburn; Sunday, May 21 @2:15pm (approximately) CDT; ESPN+

Final:  Auburn 1 - Clemson 5  CLEMSON WINS THEIR REGIONAL AND ADVANCES TO THE SUPERS TO FACE OKLAHOMA

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Golden Eagle
Added full schedule and results; added ESPN broadcast today

[Golden Eagle 368]

GAME 2:  #2 Auburn vs #3 Cal State Fullerton

After 1 inning:  Auburn 2 - Cal State Fullerton 0

Penta pitching for Auburn.  CSF has a really good pitcher, too (Myka Southerland)

After 2 innings:  Auburn 6 (BRI BOMB GRAND SLAM!!!) - Cal State Fullerton 1

After 3 innings:  Auburn 7 - Cal State Fullerton 2

     Peralta had back-to-back errors which lead to CSF score.  CSF made a pitching change this inning and

     new pitcher made several illegal pitches which benefitted Auburn.

After 4 innings:  Auburn 12 - Cal State Fullerton 2

     CSF changed pitchers twice and continued to have problems with illegal pitches.  Auburn has been disciplined

     at the plate this game, albeit against less than stellar pitching.  Last pinch batter for Auburn was Milanowski

     who struck out looking after never swinging the bat, tho.  Chance for Auburn to close out the run rule victory

     in the top of the 5th.

After 4.5 innings:  Auburn 12 - Cal State Fullerton 2   AUBURN RUN RULES CSF 12 - 2

      Shelby Lowe came in to pitch for Penta in the 5th.  She got off to a rocky start - walked the first batter and

     threw 17 pitches to the second batter who kept fouling it off before hitting a ground ball that Bryant mishandled.

     So, runners on first and second with no outs.  The next two batters popped out and Lowe struck out the last batter.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Golden Eagle
Update after each inning

[AUBwins 10,075]

Grand Slam!!!! From the great BamBriNo!!!!! Bri Ellis to the light pole!!! 6-1 Tigers!

[AUBwins 10,075]

Hopefully we can save Maddie a little today.  With the entry, I'd like her to finish this inning and pull. But if we keep having runners on with errors, argh

[AUBwins 10,075]

Auburn has cleared the run rule by a few runs in the 4th. Very big of we can get the run rule today.  Currently 12-2 bot 4th

[AUBwins 10,075]

Shelby finally gets 3 straight outs with over 40 pitches and 2 baserunners lol

AUBURN WINS!!!!

[Jad0003 410]

29 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

Shelby finally gets 3 straight outs with over 40 pitches and 2 baserunners lol

AUBURN WINS!!!!

Zone was a little tight today, but she was not her best. Glad to see her not give up a run though!

[AUBwins 10,075]

2 hours ago, Jad0003 said:

Zone was a little tight today, but she was not her best. Glad to see her not give up a run though!

Lately she's been good for a multi run HR. I think it was there again but thank goodness it was foul.  That ball was crushed. That would have been a 3 run HR. 

[aubiefifty 16,811]

 

[aubiefifty 16,811]

 

[aubiefifty 16,811]

 

[Golden Eagle 368]

GAME 3:  #1 Clemson vs #2 Auburn on ESPN

Pitcher's duel between Valerie Cagle and Maddie Penta

After 1st inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 0

After 2nd inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 0

     Auburn turned a nice double play to end the 2nd

After 3rd inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 1

     Dang it...Penta gave up a solo HR in the bottom of the 3rd

After 4th inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 1

     Come on Auburn offense...

After 5th inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 6

     A complete disaster for Auburn.  Penta had 2 outs and then fell apart.  She threw 56 pitches through the 1st 4 innings

     and 32 in the 5th inning before she was pulled after giving up a 2-run HR and hitting a batter.  Auburn has been putting

     the ball in play, mostly with very weakly hit balls in the infield, and a few fly balls, all resulting in outs.  Only 1 base hit so

     far in this game.  I guess where Auburn is concerned, the selection committee has been vindicated in not making

     us a regional host.  VERY disappointing.

After 6th inning:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 7

     Clemson having their way with us.

After 6.5 innings:  Auburn 0 - Clemson 7

     Cagle retired the last 17 Auburn batters.  She is a beast on offense and in the circle.  May well win player of the year.

     Auburn had 0 runs on 1 hit with 1 error.  Clemson had 7 runs on 10 hits with 1 error.

     Penta hasn't pitched very well for the last couple of weeks.  Must be very frustrating for her after winning

          SEC Pitcher of the Year

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Golden Eagle
Updated score

[KansasTiger 3,248]

Cagle seems to be struggling with control early on.

[Golden Eagle 368]

24 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

Cagle seems to be struggling with control early on.

Didn't take her long to settle down (unfortunately)

[KansasTiger 3,248]

25 minutes ago, Golden Eagle said:

Didn't take her long to settle down (unfortunately)

I hate our approach at the plate. I disagree with the commentators, constant early pitch swinging can often make things much easier for pitchers.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Only 1 hit through 5 for us.  Some have been robbed by the Clemson SS. She's got an arm.  

[KansasTiger 3,248]

I had my doubts we even scored this game, but I think it's over now. In the end, we have a hitting problem under Dean for multiple years that needs to be addressed.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Well.  That blew up

[AUBwins 10,075]

Just now, KansasTiger said:

I had my doubts we even scored this game, but I think it's over now. In the end, we have a hitting problem under Dean for multiple years that needs to be addressed.

Agreed.  Sucks to get here every year but not be able to hit the pitching that you face in postseason.

[Golden Eagle 368]

Now 7-0 in the bottom of the 6th with 1 out...one more run by Clemson and we'll be run-ruled.  How embarrassing.

[AUMom02 12]

I’m a parent of a former player (from a few years ago). I have watched just about all of the games this year and read comments and analysis from this forum often. This is my first post. 

To be completely honest, I find this team extremely difficult to watch and root for. Not running out ground balls (does it make you faster if you carry the bat with you to first base? lol), casually catching fly balls at your shoulders, jogging to get a ball that you just missed, saying “WTF” on national TV after giving up a home run, no or very little life and energy in the dugout - all witnessed during this game (against Clemson). I have seen this all season long. This team, with all of their talent and potential, just does not seem to be truly playing for each other and does not seem to be having FUN! In fact, my daughter mentioned that after the game. She said “other teams have fun when they play, Auburn does not”.  In my opinion, less than 100% effort and poor attitudes have been allowed and therefore have continued. There is a fine line between confidence vs. cockiness, disappointment vs. sulking, and deserving vs. entitled and unfortunately, many players seem to be on the wrong side. And there is no obvious leadership on the team to pull everyone together. 

I am reluctant to post this as I do not want this to be seen as bad mouthing the team. In fact, I used to HATE it when fans used to criticize the team when my daughter played. But I think the tone is being set at the top and these negative behaviors exist because they are allowed to exist. It’s just extremely frustrating to watch.

Hopefully they can regroup and pull out a win later today. 

[Golden Eagle 368]

45 minutes ago, AUMom02 said:

I’m a parent of a former player (from a few years ago). I have watched just about all of the games this year and read comments and analysis from this forum often. This is my first post. 

To be completely honest, I find this team extremely difficult to watch and root for. Not running out ground balls (does it make you faster if you carry the bat with you to first base? lol), casually catching fly balls at your shoulders, jogging to get a ball that you just missed, saying “WTF” on national TV after giving up a home run, no or very little life and energy in the dugout - all witnessed during this game (against Clemson). I have seen this all season long. This team, with all of their talent and potential, just does not seem to be truly playing for each other and does not seem to be having FUN! In fact, my daughter mentioned that after the game. She said “other teams have fun when they play, Auburn does not”.  In my opinion, less than 100% effort and poor attitudes have been allowed and therefore have continued. There is a fine line between confidence vs. cockiness, disappointment vs. sulking, and deserving vs. entitled and unfortunately, many players seem to be on the wrong side. And there is no obvious leadership on the team to pull everyone together. 

I am reluctant to post this as I do not want this to be seen as bad mouthing the team. In fact, I used to HATE it when fans used to criticize the team when my daughter played. But I think the tone is being set at the top and these negative behaviors exist because they are allowed to exist. It’s just extremely frustrating to watch.

Hopefully they can regroup and pull out a win later today. 

Appreciate you speaking up.  I became a big fan of AU softball during the Myers era (so sad that ended in the mess it did) and have mostly been a frustrated fan since.  I have made many of the same comments you're making now over this past year.  Hard not to be frustrated when we all want AU softball to succeed but continue to see the same issues year after year.  Sounds like you think the team has the talent to be better - the issue is coaching?  I've been critical of coaching but really don't know if the talent is there as well...

[Golden Eagle 368]

GAME 4:  #3 Cal State Fullerton vs #3 UNC Greensboro on ESPN+

Final:  Cal State Fullerton 5 - UNC Greensboro 0

This was UNC Greensboro's 2nd loss so they have been eliminated from the tournament.

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Golden Eagle

[Golden Eagle 368]

GAME 5:  #2 Auburn vs #3 Cal State Fullerton on ESPN+

After 1 inning:  Auburn 1 - CSF 0

After 2 innings:  Auburn 1 - CSF 0

     Shelby Lowe looking good so far - has a lot of zip on her pitches today

After 3 innings:  Auburn 1 - CSF 0

     Auburn can't bat but, fortunately, Lowe is holding off  CSF - has retired all 9 batters she has faced

********** RAIN DELAY AFTER 4.1 INNINGS; SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BE A LONG DELAY **********

********** Play has resumed.  Still a light rain.  Hope they're able to finish tonight. **********

After 4 innings:  Auburn 3 - CSF 0

     Shelby Lowe still pitching lights out.  Roach hit a 2 RBI single to RF to increase Auburn's lead

After 5 innings:  Auburn 5 - CSF 0

After 6 innings:  Auburn 5 - CSF 0

     Auburn had the bases loaded with no outs and couldn't score a run...could have closed out the game

          by run rule (assuming CSF didn't score in the bottom of the 6th).

     CSF brought in a new pitcher after Southerland's pitch count reached 147 (on top of pitching an

            earlier game today against UNC Greensboro).

     CSF got their first two hits in the bottom of the 6th - making good contact with the ball - but

            couldn't drive in a run.

After 7 innings:  Auburn 5 - CSF 0    AUBURN WINS!

     One really bad defensive play by Auburn - high fly ball to shallow center right field.  Roach (2nd base),

            Tresvik (RF) and Packer (CF) all ran to catch it.  Didn't look like anybody called it and it dropped in

            the middle of the 3.  Any of them should have been able to catch it if they had called it and gone for

            it instead of all of them seeming to back off.  Have to play better offensively and defensively to

            compete with Clemson.  Game 6 between Auburn and Clemson starts in about 12 hours.

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Golden Eagle

[Golden Eagle 368]

Welp, Florida just run-ruled by Stanford 8 -0 in 5 innings.  Oregon beat #11 seed and regional host Arkansas 10-4.  So we're not the only SEC team having issues.  Alabama, of course, was gifted the easiest regional (with no power 5 opponents) so they'll advance to the supers.