Kennesaw State drills No. 8 Tigers to open series

Clemson starter Billy Barlow gave up eight hits and five earned runs over 2+ innings (Merrell Mann photo).

by Brooks Thomason - Correspondent - Fri Feb 23 20:05:56 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON - Doug Kingsmore Stadium fell silent after a dominant win by the Kennesaw State Owls on Friday.

There wasn’t much to highlight for Clemson in this one; the Tigers couldn’t muster any momentum, and the Owls ran away with it early. The Tigers (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season, 18-1, and look to bounce back Saturday.

The game started poorly for the Tigers with Billy Barlow on the bump. Barlow walked the second batter, who advanced on a passed ball. After moving up to third on a sac fly, the two-out rally began for the Owls. A single up the middle scored the runner on third, then another single and double scored another run for the Owls. Barlow escaped the jam with only two to show on the board.

In the top of the second inning, Barlow gave up two more hits, with the second single of the inning bringing home the runner from second. Clemson’s deficit grew to three runs early against the Owls. Barlow’s five hits surrendered in two innings wasn’t the best start for him, but escaping the two innings helped the Tigers out.

In the third, Barlow was tagged again. Donovan Cash for KSU sent a home run to straightaway center, and back-to-back doubles gave KSU a lead of five with no outs. Barlow was hooked early, with Nick Clayton coming in relief. Blake Wright threw out the runner at home with one out on a ground ball to keep the lead at five for KSU.

In the fifth, KSU's Brayden Eidson slapped a two-RBI single down the middle of the infield. The Owls kept the pressure on right after with a double down the first base line, which pulled Clayton from the game.

Justin Leguernic came in for relief, walked in one run, a single to left by Nick Hassan scored two runs, an error by Ciufo on a bouncer up the middle scored one, and a single through the second base hole gave another two runs for the Owls. The inning indeed ended on a liner to second, but the Owls plated eight runs in the fifth to extend it to 13-0.

Clemson had one hit through five innings and subbed off every starter for the day except freshman Devin Parks. Rocco Reid came in relief and struck out the side.

In the seventh, KSU catcher Nick Hassan hit a two-run home run out into left center field. In the bottom of the seventh, Tryston McCladdie got his first Clemson hit with a single into left-field. Also, Clemson’s first hit since Cannarella led off the game, but that’s all the Tigers could muster.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard. Utility freshman Brodey Conn launched a deep fly ball to straight away center field and gave the Tigers their first run of the game. Later in the inning, Jarren Purify got an infield single, but he was left stranded to end the inning.

In the ninth, a sacrifice fly by Brayden Eidson gave the Owls another run. The Owls scored in every inning except the fourth and the sixth. In the bottom half, the Tigers got another single from McCladdie, but the Owls turned a double play to end it.

Clemson will look to avenge the defeat tomorrow at 2:00 pm against Kennesaw State in the second of the three-game weekend series.

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— Brooks Thomason (@BrooksThomason) February 24, 2024