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 |
|
| Assistant coaches |
|
| Home stadium | McWhorter Stadium |
| 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.