After what was a sweet start in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla, it ended with a bitter taste for No. 9 Clemson.

The Tigers opened the NFCA Leadoff Classic at the Eddie C. Moore Complex with three impressive wins over Southeastern Louisiana, No. 5 Oregon and No. 21 Liberty. However, on Sunday morning, they lost their second consecutive game and they did not look good in either defeat.

Auburn pounded 13 hits in a five-run rout of Clemson on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Michigan State took advantage of two Clemson errors, while the Tigers stranded 11 runners in the Spartans’ 5-2 victory.

In the bottom of the first, Michigan State’s Zoie Bernard scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch from Clemson starter Lexie Hames. On the Spartans next at-bat, shortstop Kiley Channell fielded the ball incorrectly, allowing two more Spartans to come home for a 3-0 lead.

Once again, the Tigers (3-2) tried to rally, as they trailed in all but one of their four games this weekend. Jamison Brockenbrough drew a two-out walk to in the second inning to get Clemson on the board, while Channell’s sacrifice fly to centerfield with one out in the fourth scored its final run of the morning.

Michigan State (4-1) put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to an RBI single from Sydney Doloszycki and one-out walk from Sophia Grillo.

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Clemson will host its home opener at McWhorter Stadium on Tuesday (6 p.m.) against Furman.