UNCG Softball to Meet No. 16 Tigers in Clemson NCAA Regional
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team will begin the 2023 NCAA Tournament in the Clemson Regional against host, No. 16 Tigers on Friday at 3:00 p.m. EST at McWhorter Stadium on Clemson University’s campus.
Joining the Spartans and Tigers will be the Auburn Tigers and the Cal State Fullerton Titans.
The four-team, three-day event features UNCG (36-20) facing the No. 16 Clemson Tigers (46-9) at 3:00 p.m. on Friday before Auburn (40-17) takes on Cal State Fullerton (33-19) at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Winners of six straight games and 11 of its last 13 contests, UNCG will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2021 when it competed in the Athens regional. The NCAA regional appearance will be the seventh in program history (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2018, 2021, 2023).
The top-seeded Spartans earned the Southern Conference’s automatic bid after defeating the second-seeded Samford Bulldogs, 7-6, in the SoCon Championship game on Saturday in dramatic fashion with back-to-back home runs from Jessie Shipley and Maycin Brown in the bottom of the seventh.
In each of the three SoCon Tournament games that the Spartans played in last week, UNCG defeated its opponents by one run each. In game one on Thursday against the fourth-seeded Western Carolina, the Spartans won 1-0. On Friday, UNCG defeated the Bulldogs, 2-1.
UNCG has had 11 shutouts this season. This is the most since the 2018 season when the Spartans had 14. Six of the 11 have been shortened games.
Redshirt sophomore Maddie Spell was named the Southern Conference Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after appearing in all three games in the tournament. She pitched 12.0 innings, giving up eight hits, one earned run, and had five strikeouts. She also hit a solo home run in the championship game. Fifth year Delaney Cumbie and sophomore Jessie Shipley were also named to the All-Tournament team. Senior Ashley Gontram was the recipient of the Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average on the championship-winning team.
In the latest national statistics, which are games through May 12, UNCG is leading the nation in walks (256), is 14th in double plays per game (0.46), 21st in total home runs (64), 29th in home runs per game (1.14), 46th in doubles (73), 47th in shutouts (11), 56th in scoring (5.12), 58th in win-loss percentage (0.643), and 65th in slugging percentage (0.439).
The Spartans’ 261 walks has led the nation since April 6th.
They continue to lead the SoCon in 11 categories, including double plays per game, doubles, doubles per game, home runs per game, home runs, on-base percentage, scoring, shutouts, slugging percentage, win-loss percentage, and walks.
The winner of the Clemson Regional will advance to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional against the winner of the Norman Regional between May 25-28. The Women’s College World Series will be playing in Oklahoma City, Okla., June 1-9.
Courtesy of Denise Archetto
Assistant Athletic Director For Strategic Communications
UNC Greensboro