CLEMSON, S.C. (Clemson Athletics)- The No. 23/24 Tigers opened their first home weekend of the 2026 season with 8-0 run-rule victories against Lipscomb and Coastal Carolina on Friday afternoon to kick off the 2026 Clemson Classic. Following the two wins, Clemson improved to 8-5, while Lipscomb and Coastal Carolina fell to 4-7 and 6-6, respectively.
Game 1 (W – 6): Clemson 8, Lipscomb 0
The Tigers began the Clemson Classic with an 8-0 run-rule victory over the Lipscomb Bisons on Friday afternoon. Led by freshman pitcher Lexie Hames’ 10 strikeouts and two-hit complete game performance, Clemson led early and pushed the envelope for its second run-rule of the season. Offensively, freshman Mac Pavese led the team with three RBIs and sophomore Marian Collins went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in the win.
The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the second with a stand-up double from Collins to mark the first hit of the game. A bunt from Kiley Channell and an RBI groundout by Macey Cintron brought Collins home. A single back up the middle from Jamison Brockenbrough scored Channell, giving the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.
In the fourth, Clemson was set up by a pair of singles from Channell and Cintron coupled with a five-pitch walk to Brockenbrough loaded the bases for Pavese, who cleared them with a triple to left center. The Tigers added an RBI single from Julia Knowler to make a six-run lead over the Bisons.
Clemson kept that momentum going in the bottom of the fifth as sophomore outfielder Ava Wilson plated Collins off a single to center. Collins rounded out the game for the Tigers in the sixth after hitting a bases-loaded RBI single to score Pavese for the run-rule win.
Hames became the third Tiger this season to pitch a complete game after throwing 106 total pitches, 64 for strikes, against 25 Bisons to earn her first collegiate victory.
Game 2 (W – 5): Clemson 8, Coastal Carolina 0
The Tigers kept the momentum rolling into the second game of the game against Coastal Carolina as Pavese recorded a one-out hit to put a runner on for Knowler. Knowler, who swung on the first pitch of her at bat, drove the ball 224 feet with an exit velocity of 70 miles per hour for her first homer of the year. Clemson’s 2-0 lead held through the first four innings.
Pavese and Knowler got things going again in the fifth with back-to-back singles to kick off the inning. Freshman Sarah Breaux notched her first RBI of the day with a single to score Pavese. The Tigers had runners on first and third after Collins reached on a fielder’s choice, and Kennedy Ariail, who was running for Knowler, came home on an RBI from Channell to make it 4-0.
Freshman Sarah Rocheleau picked up her first collegiate hit and RBI with a single up the middle to score Collins. A fielding error by the Chanticleers with two outs allowed Wilson, who had walked, to score, and a base-clearing triple by Brockenbrough secured the run-rule win.
Graduate Abby Dunning pitched her first complete game of the season in her five-inning outing. She threw 89 pitches and struck out six while allowing only two hits and two walks for her fourth win.
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