CLEMSON – Win 3,000 for the Clemson baseball program will have to wait at least another day as the Tigers fell behind early and suffered an ugly first loss of the season to Kennesaw State 18-1 Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson had its first hit from sophomore Cam Cannarella to lead off the game. That was the only hit before an 18 at-bat drought ended by freshman Tryston McCladdie in the seventh. The offense never arrived as the outlook was bleaker by the inning.

Redshirt sophomore Billy Barlow got the start for the Tigers and struggled to find command, finishing with 2.0 innings, surrendering eight hits and five earned runs. His day was over quickly, and Clemson couldn’t find a pitcher to stop the onslaught coming its way.

The Owls struck first with an RBI hit by Jackson Chirello. That was followed by an RBI double by Nick Hassan. This momentum carried into the next two innings, including a homer to start the third inning by Donovan Cash as Kennesaw State got off to a 5-0 lead through three innings.

Graduate senior Nick Clayton took over for Barlow, but the result wasn’t much different. He pitched a scoreless fourth before he and freshman Justin LeGuernic surrendered an eight-spot in the fifth inning to make it 13-0 and bury the game.

A two-run homer by Hassan in the seventh inning was the mic drop. He was the star of a dominant day with four hits, five RBI’s and three runs. The defense as a whole allowed 20 hits and eight walks on the night.

Head coach Erik Bakich reacted by making eight substitutions to the lineup and nine-hole freshman Devin Parks was the only to survive the waving of the white flag. The one solace of the night came on a solo home-run from redshirt freshman Brodey Conn in the eighth, denying the first shutout in nearly two years.

Clemson (4-1) has a night to regroup before taking on Kennesaw State in game two of the series Saturday. That game starts at 2 p.m., televised on ACC Network Extra.