The ACC is turning into one of the best softball conferences in the country. They are becoming a conference that earns multiple Top 16 seeds to host the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and they are a conference that generates Top 8 seeds to host Super Regionals if they win the opening weekend.
If there is one money grab that can't go away quick enough, it's conference tournaments. Honestly, there isn't much to gain and more to lose. In some sports, the conference likes to spread around hosts sites and one sport that does is softball. This weekend, the single-elimination tournament is being held in Chestnut Hill, Mass. on the campus of Boston College.
Why Boston College is a debate for another time, but what happened on Friday is an embarrassment on the conference and quite frankly, inexcusable.
ACC holds softball semifinals in unsafe playing conditions
Chalk held through the first two days of the tournament and the top four seeds, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Duke won their quarterfinal round games Thursday to advance to Friday's semifinals. The game's were originally scheduled for 1 and 3:30 in the afternoon, but the ACC moved the games up to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with inclement weather expected in the Boston area. Correct decision.
Florida State edged Duke, 3-2, in the opening game before Clemson rallied from seven runs down in the bottom of the sixth for a wild 10-9 win over Virginia Tech. It's not that the Hokies lost; it's about how the whole situation played out, which was embarrassing. Wrong decision.
Shortly after the game started, it began to rain lightly, and the intensity picked up as the game went along. The longer the game went, the harder it rained, and it affected both teams. Two of the top teams in the conference combined for nine errors, which never would have happened on a dry field. Then, in an eight-run bottom of the sixth, the Hokies brought in ace Emma Lemley with two outs and up three runs, but she allowed four straight walks and a hit batter to tie the game 9-9. Sophie Klineman came in and walked in the game-winning run as both pitchers struggled with control.
Lemley was just one day removed from a one-hit performance in a 4-0 win over North Carolina, and the weather conditions bothered her. Again, Clemson had to play in the same conditions, and their pitchers walked just three batters compared to 13 for Virginia Tech.
Before we go any further, let's be clear, both teams had to play in the conditions, but in the overall picture, it was not fair to either team to have to play in those conditions and risk a major injury before the NCAA Tournament next weekend. Imagine trying to explain to either team if they lost a key player to an injury in a game that had no business reaching the point it did.
I get it, they had to finish the game Friday with the Championship Game scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:30. The weather report wasn't great with the rain not expected to stop until Friday night, but why not send the teams back to the hotel, let the rain pass, and return with better field conditions. The outfield is turf, and covering the infield and waiting hours for the rain to pass makes too much sense, which is why the ACC didn't do it.
In the end, both teams got out of the game without a major injury, but this game should have an asterisk next to it because of the deplorable conditions, and before anyone says, "You're only saying that because Virginia Tech lost.'' Not true, I would have had the same take had the Hokies won 9-2. Best of luck to both Clemson and Florida State tomorrow!