Seth Blair suffered his first loss of the season— at a lousy time — as ASU lost its College World Series opener Monday in Omaha, Neb., falling 6-3 to Clemson.

ASU, the top seed in the NCAA baseball tournament, was scheduled to face South Carolina in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m.(Arizona time) Tuesday .

Blair (12-1) pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up seven hits and five runs. He left in the fifth when Clemson scored three runs to take a 5-1 lead and control of the game.

Clemson opened a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

ASU scored its first run in the third. Former Brophy star Raoul Torrez doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

Clemson took command in the fifth, scoring three runs on three consecutive RBI singles.The Tigers added another run in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, as Sandra Day O’Connor grad Zack MacPhee and Buckeye grad Kole Calhoun walked with two outs. Brophy alumnus Riccio Torrez singled, driving in MacPhee.

Brophy graduate Drew Maggi grounded out with bases loaded in the seventh, to make it 6-3.