It’s the third week of college softball season and this time the Huskies are set to travel down to South Carolina for the Clemson Classic.
UConn is set to play four games this weekend starting with a doubleheader Friday, Feb. 23. They will open up against Ole Miss at 11:00 a.m. and will face Miami (OH) in the afternoon at 1:30 p.m.. On Saturday, they have a big match up against the host school, No. 9 Clemson, with the first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Lastly, the Huskies matchup for the closing game of the weekend on Sunday is yet to be announced.
Let’s take a look at the Huskies opponents for the weekend. Starting off with Ole Miss, who are entering this tournament with a 9-1 record. The Rebels lost their first game of the season against BYU in the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawai’i, but since then, they have won eight games in a row. Their current 9-1 record is the best start they’ve had in program history. In the ten games Ole Miss has played this season, they have scored 74 runs total. Their offense has been soaring from the start of the season and there have only been three games where they have scored three or less runs. The Rebels’ biggest scoring differential came against Hawaii in the first weekend of the season where the score was a 15-0 shutout. They also defeated Kennesaw State by scoring 14 runs last weekend at the Kennesaw State Tournament.
For Miami (OH), they are also having a hot start to the season with a 7-0 undefeated record, the program’s best start in over 20 years. A standout player for the RedHawks is Holly Blaska. The graduate student infielder was named MAC Player of the Week. She’s been on fire for the RedHawks, hitting for home runs total with two in each game last Sunday. Overall, she went 6-for-10 at the plate and all of her hits on Sunday were home runs. She then added a double and a single on Monday against Evansville. On the week, Blaska had seven RBIs and scored six runs herself. Miami (OH) has played seven games on the season and in six of those games, they have scored double digit runs and have won by a pretty large differential.
Now for the host school. Clemson is entering these matchups with a 7-2 overall record. Last weekend, they played in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge and went 2-1 with wins over Wichita State and UC San Diego. They dropped the final game of the tournament to Mississippi State on Saturday. However, the Tigers had a midweek matchup against Charlotte on Wednesday and they earned the 8-5 victory which closed out their season-opening road stretch. In the NCAA college softball rankings, Clemson is ranked at No. 9. In total, the Tigers are ranked Top 10 in the nation in four different major softball polls. The Tigers pitching staff is led by right-handed Valerie Cagle, the reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She sports a 2-1 record with a 1.52 ERA in 23 innings. Infielder Julia Knowler is the current anchor of the team’s offense with a .385 batting average with three home runs and 12 RBIs in eight games. From a rankings standpoint, Clemson is definitely the best team in the tournament. The Tigers are opening their 2024 season home slate this Friday as they are hosting the Classic.
As for the Huskies, they are coming in with a 4-7 overall record. Last weekend at the NC State Tournament, UConn went 2-3 with wins over Elon and Campbell. In this Huskies’ matchup against North Dakota State, senior Payton Kinney got her second start of the season. She tossed five scoreless innings and only gave up two hits with five strikeouts. So far this season, Kinney has been one of the most reliable starting pitchers for UConn.
On Monday, The Big East released their Weekly Awards and Grace Jenkins was listed on the Honor Roll. The sophomore catcher went 8-for-15 (.533) with four runs scored, five RBIs, a homerun and two doubles. This past weekend, Jenkins extended her on base streak to eleven straight games and she has reached base safely in every contest UConn has played to start off the season. This is the second straight week that Jenkins has been named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.
UConn will not have it easy this weekend as they are facing many talented teams from Ole Miss, Miami (OH) and Clemson. However, they look to put the pieces together and bring home some wins from Clemson, South Carolina at the end of the weekend. The Huskies will open the Clemson Classic on Friday, Feb. 23 at 11:00 a.m.. The only game of the weekend that will be available to stream will be against No. 9 Clemson on Saturday, Feb. 24. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the ACC Network.