Mat Clark was needed much sooner than he probably anticipated as No. 14 Clemson was defeated by South Carolina, 5-4, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Friday in Clemson.
Nonetheless, the sophomore delivered when called upon. The lefty pitched a scoreless 4 1/3 innings while giving up only two hits and one walk with six strikeouts in relief of starter Brooks Crawford, who was chased after only two innings of work.
“I had a pretty good feel for all three pitches today and our defense had a very good day today, too,” Clark said after the game. “They really gave me the confidence to just get the ball over the plate and let them make plays.
“Logan (Davidson) throwing the guy out at home, Sam Hall on the bunt attempt. I’m sure I’m missing a few but our guys played really good back there today.”
With Crawford going just two innings after a five-run second inning by the Gamecocks, Clark was brought in earlier than usual.
“It all starts pregame, going through the same warmup routine and stuff like that,” he said. “You have to be ready no matter what because every game is going to be different so you just have to stay ready no matter what the situation is.”
In a day and age of metrics and measureables when it comes to baseball mechanics, velocity is a must-have tool for pitchers. However, it isn’t the velocity Clark relies on to simply get batters out. It’s his off-speed pitches and movement on his balls.
“It’s just always how I’ve been throughout high school and stuff,” he said. “I’ve never had an overpowering fastball so I had to rely on a bunch of off-speed and locating my pitches to get me through a game.”
Clemson head coach Monte Lee sees that in Clark in just about every outing he has. It’s why he recruited the Hilton Head, S.C., native in the first place.
“Clark just being Clark,” Lee said. “Mat Clark, it’s funny, he’s one of those guys that if you looked at his stats, you would think that he is 6-foot-5 and throwing 92 mph. But man can he pitch and he’s just as cool as a cucumber out there. I don’t even know if his heart beats when he’s out there. He’s just a really, really mellowed out kid.
“I recruited Mat Clark in high school and I have seen him for years and years do it over and over again. He just wins. He’s a winner. But he can really pitch. He moves his fastball up, down, in and out. He has a good breaking ball and he was awfully good for us tonight. I wish we could have given him some offense in the back half of that game.”
“I just try to stay as calm as possible on the mound,” Clark added. “I try not to overthink things. Take it pitch by pitch, take deep breaths and stay relaxed.”
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