FULLERTON, Calif. — When a California reporter asked did the hot weather get to him late in Game 1 of the Fullerton Regional, Clemson pitcher Matthew Crownover just smiled a little bit.

The weather in Southern California was in the mid-80s on Friday and there was no humidity in the air. The weather was the least of Crownover’s issues when he gave up three runs, including two home runs, in the seventh inning. He is used to pitching in the summer heat and humidity that comes with living in Georgia and South Carolina.

No, the only thing that got to the Tigers’ ace on Friday was No. 2 seed Arizona State.

The Sun Devils hit three home runs overall on Crownover, as they rallied to beat No. 3 seed Clemson, 7-4, at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

“It is great weather out here. There is no humidly. I can take weather like this all day,” Crownover said. “Just give them a lot of credit. They made some adjustments and when I made a mistake, they took advantage of it.

“I made a lot of good pitches today, but I had two bad ones and bad ones count and they took advantage of them. You have to give them credit. They are a good team.”

Before Friday’s regional, Crownover had allowed just three home runs all season. But he gave up a home run to Trever Allen in the bottom of the fifth inning, which barely cleared the foul pole in left field and then he gave up a two-run bomb to Joey Bielek, which gave Arizona a 3-2 lead at the time.

Brian Serven followed with a solo home run to left field on the next at-bat off the Clemson lefty.  Bielek’s home run was just his third of the season, and like Allen’s, it just barely cleared the wall in left-centerfield.

“It is what it is. They’re a good team,” Crownover said. “They took advantage of some mistakes. They all count the same whether they go 500 feet or 335. That was three runs right there.”

Up to that point, Crownover had allowed just three hits in six innings and was cruising along. His pitch count was just in the 70s at the start of the seventh inning and he recorded his seventh strikeout to start the inning when he fanned designated hitter David Greer.

Clemson (32-28) had a 2-1 lead at the time.

But Allen was up next. Crownover wanted to make sure the right fielder did not beat him, again. So he tried to work around him and he gave up the one-out walk on four pitches – his first and only one of the game.

“I was not too upset about that,” he said. “But I got down 3-0 to the next guy, which is unacceptable. Then I go 3-1 and then a 3-1 fastball, and the guy hits it. Then the next guy hits a changeup in the middle.

“I made two bad pitches all day, and they made me pay for it. That’s what good teams do. They made me pay for it today.”

And it had nothing to do with the weather.