![Clemson's McKenzie Clark celebrates after her teammates connected for back-to-back home runs as Clemson faced Troy in the opening game of the Tuscaloosa Regional in Rhoads Stadium Friday, May 21, 2021. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Tuscaloosa Regional Clemson Vs Troy](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/41eb8c7d0daaa4b3e988f79b4156827d3c1847bf6374aa40d4e87ec81801f9e7.jpg "Clemson's McKenzie Clark celebrates after her teammates connected for back-to-back home runs as Clemson faced Troy in the opening game of the Tuscaloosa Regional in Rhoads Stadium Friday, May 21, 2021. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Tuscaloosa Regional Clemson Vs Troy")
The Clemson Softball team will host the first round of the NCAA Softball Tournament this weekend at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson. #Team3 will host the tournament for the first time in program history and in only their second full season of existence. Quite the feat for Head Coach John Rittman and the ladies of the softball team.
https://twitter.com/mcwhorters/status/1526750783349436416?s=20&t=Sd7UBzxfpb9jmLDAR_j1vw
This piece is to introduce you to the teams that will invade McWhorter Stadium this weekend.
For those of you that are not up to speed in how the softball tournament works, it is very similar to the NCAA Baseball tournament.
- 16 Regional Sites around the country.
- Double elimination
- Winner of the regional moves on to the Super Regional.
- Top 16 teams in the nation are seeded 1-16, with all 16 hosting regionals this weekend
As most of the Clemson softball fans know, last season the Tigers were slotted into the Tuscaloosa (AL) regional and fought like crazy but were eventually eliminated by the #2 ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide. They’re looking to advance this year playing in the comfy confines of their home park.
https://twitter.com/allin_dude/status/1525998844517011463?s=20&t=Sd7UBzxfpb9jmLDAR_j1vw
The 4 Teams that will play this weekend are (obviously) Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference Runner-up), UNC-Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association Conference Tournament Champions), Louisiana (Sun Belt Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion) and the Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference 10th place team).
Clemson will play UNC-Wilmington at Noon on Friday 5/20, followed immediately by Louisiana versus Auburn in the nightcap. From there the bracket gets to be a little more difficult to explain here in this space.
Now the introduction of the teams and what to look for from each: