NC State softball travels to No. 16 Clemson for crucial four-game series

Kat Peters, Staff Writer • April 22, 2021

Redshirt junior infielder Randi Farricker tags out a second base runner during the game versus Louisiana State Universtiy on Saturday, April 18, 2021 in Dail Softball Stadium. The Wolfpack lost to the Tigers 2-1.

After a doubleheader sweep of Furman on April 21, the NC State softball team will travel to No. 16 Clemson for a four-game weekend series April 23-25. Clemson’s pitching staff against the NC State offense should be the highlight of the series.

In its last weekend series at home, the Pack (24-13, 14-11 ACC) went 1-2 against No. 17 LSU. NC State struggled, especially in the final game against LSU, to keep up offensively as well as keeping the pitching consistent. However, the Pack was back to full performance against Furman, with impressive offensive ability and pitching.

Clemson (33-4, 22-4 ACC) is coming off a weekend series against Boston College in which BC was shut out in two out of the four games. Clemson’s last game was a midweek matchup against South Carolina, which the Tigers won 6-0.

Offensively, Clemson is dominating this season, sitting in second in the conference in batting average and having five players with a batting average over .300 with 70-plus at-bats. While the team is more consistent with batting, its power isn’t as strong, only notching 46 home runs, well below NC State’s incredible mark of 63. Valerie Cagle leads the team with 10 home runs on the season. McKenzie Clark holds a team-high 35 runs this year.

While there are only two consistent pitchers for Clemson, it has secured the best ERA in the ACC. Right-handed pitcher Valeria Cagle has an ERA of 0.85 and a record of 21-3 while left-handed pitcher Millie Thompson has an ERA of 1.83 and a record of 6-1. The entire pitching staff has logged 248 strikeouts this year and will look to punch out redshirt senior outfielder Angie Rizzi and redshirt junior infielder Randi Farricker throughout this weekend.

The Pack is coming off a two-game win streak, but Clemson hasn’t lost a game since March 26. Clemson’s only losses have been at home against ACC teams, but that doesn’t mean anything for NC State against this ranked team. NC State’s offense will have to show up, ready to get out ahead against this dominating Clemson pitching staff.

The first game of the series is April 23, with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. at Clemson. The series will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.