Baseball
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE VALERIE CAGLE, NO.14 CLEMSON CRUISES TO 11-0 WIN TO OPEN SEASON
- 2022-02-11 10:39:16
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FT. MYERS, FL - It didn't take long for National Player of the Year candidate Valerie Cagle to pick up where she left off at the end of last season. After giving up 2 hits in the first inning, she settled in and dominated tournament host Florida Gulf Coast 11-0 to open the 2022 campaign for the Lady Tigers. The game was called after the 5th inning due to the mercy rule.
Cagle struck out 7 and scattered 5 hits over 4 innings, retiring 7 straight over the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. And that was just from the circle. As dominant as she was in the field, she was just as dominant at the plate, as she went 3-4 with 6 RBI's, including a double and a 3-run bomb in the top of the 5th to put the game away. Fellow Preseason All-ACC First-Teamer McKenzie Clark also got off to a hot start, going 2-3 with a double, a walk and 4 runs scored.
Cagle got plenty of help from the defense as well. FGCU opened the game with 2 straight hits, but they didn't advance past second base the entire game.
The Lady Tigers will play a doubleheader on Friday against Kent State and No.10 Texas before facing Long Island on Saturday and closing the weekend tournament against a familiar ACC opponent Boston College on Sunday.
This isn't the only Florida tournament in which the Tigers will compete. They will return to Clemson on Sunday for a few days of classes before heading back down south to compete in the Saint Pete Classic in Saint Petersburg next weekend.
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