John Rittman's Tigers went 1-1 on the day and suffered a second loss for the weekend to get eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.(Clemson athletics photo)

by TigerNet Staff - Sat May 18 23:00:41 GMT-04:00 2024

Regional No. 2 seed Clemson softball was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by third-seeded Southeastern Louisiana late Saturday, 6-2, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Clemson finished with a 35-19 record, while Southeastern Louisiana (46-14) moved onto a regional final versus regional host Alabama. The Tigers had made the Super Regional round for two seasons in a row previously, but the program has not advanced out of a road NCAA Tournament round through four tries now.

The Lady Lions put some early runs on Clemson right-handed starter Brooke McCubbin (10-3), with Lexi Johnson’s RBI single and Maddie Watson’s two-run double in the first inning.

With Millie Thompson in to pitch, Southeastern’s Ka’Lyn Watson delivered a blow in the second inning with a two-run homer to left field.

Audrey Greely’s two-out RBI triple then ended Thompson’s outing in the third inning.

Clemson’s McKenzie Clark reached double-digit homers (10) in a third consecutive season with a two-run bomb in the fifth inning.

In her final game as a Clemson player, reigning national player of the year Valerie Cagle went 0-for-3 in the game for an 0-11 weekend.

The Tigers beat USC Upstate 8-0 earlier in the day to stay alive in the tournament, after a Friday loss to Southeastern Louisiana to get sent to the elimination bracket, 6-2.