CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior catcher Aby Vieira hit her first triple of the season down the right field line in the ninth inning and then scored on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from freshman Marian Collins to lift 11-seed Clemson (46-12) to a 1-0 win over Northwestern (30-19-1) in the NCAA Tournament at McWhorter Stadium. Clemson, which played as the designated visitor for the contest, did not commit an error in tying its longest NCAA game in its five tournament appearances.
Clemson pitchers Reese Basinger and Brooke McCubbin combined to allow just four hits and one walk in 9.0 innings. McCubbin (18-4) earned the win, going 5.2 innings in relief, and getting the game’s final out on a strikeout, her second of the game. Northwestern’s Lauren Boyd (15-5), a second-team All-Big Ten performer, went the distance for the Wildcats, throwing 150 pitches and striking out nine.
The Tigers will face the winner of tonight’s elimination game between Northwestern and the winner of Kentucky/USC Upstate on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Northwestern strung together the first two consecutive hits by either program in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. With runners on first and third, the Tigers turned to relief pitcher McCubbin for the final two outs. McCubbin needed only four pitches for a pop-up and a groundout that forced the Wildcats to leave two stranded.
Clemson’s first two runners got on in the top of the fifth on an error and a single from Collins, but Northwestern swiftly ended the threat with a triple play, catching Taylor Pipkins’s line drive to shortstop, and getting both runners before they could return to their respective bases.
The Tigers threatened again in the sixth, this time with two outs as Alex Brown drew a walk and Maddie Moore hit an infield single to short. Julia Knowler lifted a fly ball to the deepest part of the park, but it was caught on the warning track to end the inning.
Just one pitch later in the bottom half of the inning, it was Kylee Johnson making a catch up against the left field wall off the bat of Avvisado. McCubbin retired the next two batters to move on to the seventh.
For the second consecutive inning, Clemson’s first two batters were retired, but the Tigers came close to breaking through. After Collins worked a walk, Pipkins singled to left and Johnson singled to short to load the bases with two out. Jamison Brockenbrough hit a 3-1 pitch toward the gap, but the ball hung up long enough to be caught and send…