End of the road: Clemson softball falls to Texas and short of World Series
Clemson’s softball season ended Saturday night with the Tigers still seeking the program’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series.
Texas (51-11) defeated the Tigers 6-5 to win the Austin Super Regional, securing the Longhorns’ eighth WCWS berth in program history.
Clemson (48-14) saw its season end in the super regional round for the third time in four years. The Tigers’ program began in 2020.
“You’re just not prepared for the season to end. You never are,” Clemson coach John Rittman said. “This team is in its sixth year of existence and we’ve been so close.”
Texas started strong, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second.
From then on out, Clemson responded with runs of their own. The Tigers, led by Maddie Moore, got one back in the top of the third and two more runs in the top of the fourth.
The Tigers tried to rally. Trailing by three runs in the top of the seventh, Julia Knowler hit a rocket over the center field wall that cut the deficit to one run.
Ultimately, defensive errors and wild pitches were too much for Clemson to overcome. On top of that, Clemson went 9 of 35 with runners in scoring position during the super regional.
The 2025 season for Clemson softball will go down in the history books.
The “Cardiac Kids” achieved several milestones, including winning a super regional game for the first time and securing their first ACC Championship. The team also reached the No. 1 ranking in the Softball America Top 25 Poll.
Seniors Alex Brown, Maddie Moore and Aby Vieira finish tied for first with the most games played in a season with 62.
“Clemson’s really great,” Moore said. “Clemson is a one-of-a-kind place. Coach Rittman is a one-of-a-kind coach.”
The future is bright for this program: The Tigers will return six of nine from the starting lineup, including Macey Cintron, the 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year, and Taylor Pipkins, the ACC Tournament MVP.
“Certainly, our freshman class is very talented,” Rittman said. “You can’t rest on what we’ve accomplished this year. They know that they’ve got to get in the weight room and they’ve got to get the work done in preparation for next year so we can go farther.”
Clemson-Texas softball scores
- Game 1: Clemson 7, Texas 4
- Game 2: Texas 7, Clemson 5 (10 inn.)
- Game 3: Texas 6, Clemson 5
This story was originally published May 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM.