Mississippi State Baseball Receives Commitment from Pitcher KK Clark
KK Clark, a right-handed pitcher from the Class of 2023, will be joining Mississippi State's storied baseball program in the near future.
Clark announced his commitment to the Diamond Dawgs on Friday afternoon via social media. His decision was not much of a surprise, considering the connection that he already has within the program: his older brother, Kellum, has been a pivotal part of the program as an outfielder over the last two seasons.
The 5-foot-11, 192-pound athlete out of Brandon High School had an outstanding junior season. Clark posted an 8-1 overall record with a 1.91 earned run average in 58.2 innings pitched. He struck out 84 batters -- including a season-high 11 against Oxford in late February -- and issued just 30 walks.
Clark held opposing hitters to a .181 batting average and a .317 overall on-base percentage. Of the 25 runs he gave up on the season, just 16 of them were earned, meaning that more than one-third of the runs scored while he was on the mound came as a result of defensive errors. No batters were able to hit a home run off of him, and only five were able to record extra-base hits.
Although he will likely serve as only a pitcher, Clark showed plenty of power offensively in 2022. He posted a .309 batting average with 30 hits, 25 RBI and 22 runs scored. The powerful hitter also demonstrated a good eye at the plate, recording as many strikeouts as walks with 17 apiece.
Clark has one more year to continue improving and demonstrating his skills at the high school level before he moves up and officially becomes a Diamond Dawg ahead of the 2024 season.