CLEMSON: The summertime lads are back.In the first game of the season for both teams at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday afternoon, Clemson defeated Xavier 14-3 thanks to a 14-hit outburst that included two grand slams and three home runs.

Cam Cannarella nearly missed a three-run double, but Alden Mathes and Nolan Nawrocki, two newcomers, each smashed grand slams to lead the Tiger attack. Each starting player for Clemson recorded at least one hit and one run scored. While Mathes walked three times, Cannarella led the pace with three hits.

To start the first, Xavier touched Billy Barlow, the starter for Clemson, twice for two runs. A sacrifice fly, two singles, a passed ball, and an error gave the team an early 2-0 lead that was short-lived.

In the bottom of the first inning, Cannarella, Will Taylor, and Blake Wright hit consecutive singles, loaded the bases for Richmond transfer Mathes. Luke Hoskins, the starter for Xavier, got off to a quick 2-0 lead over Mathes, but the Tigers responded with a grand slam that was his first home run as a member of the team, a 1-2 pitch that went well over the wall in right center.

After just one inning, Cannarella gave Clemson a 7-2 lead after walking to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and three singles. He then crushed an opposite field double off the wall in left center, scoring all three runs.

Last season, Hoskins, the starting pitcher for Xavier, gave up seven earned runs just once, to Cincinnati in March. That was over three innings.