Senior Spotlight: Derek Clark

Derek Clark made the jump from DII to DI this past season, but his numbers do not show it. Clark transferred from Northwood University to play his senior season at West Virginia. 

The Michigan native was one of the best high school pitchers his county had ever seen. He set the county record his senior year with a single season ERA of .20. Clark was also a two time all-state selection in high school, once as an outfield and another as a pitcher. 

In 2019, the pitcher was named Monroe County Baseball player of the year his junior season. Due to Covid-19, Clark did not get to play his senior year.

In three seasons at Northwood, Clark put up a 3.38 ERA and a 23-7 record as a starting pitcher. In 2021, the left handed pitcher was the first Northwood player to ever earn GLIAC freshman Pitcher of the Year and also earned men’s Newcomer of the Year at the 2020-21 Timby Awards.

Clark’s junior season, he finished the year with a 10-2 record, 2.78 ERA, 104 strikeouts, and just 19 walks in 103.2 innings. The awards piled up as well that year for Clark, winning NCBWA Third-Team Division II All-American, ABCA Third-Team Division II All-American, D2CCA All-America Honorable Mention, ABCA/Rawlings Division II Gold Glove Team. 

This was the first season in a Mountaineer jersey and Clark did not miss a beat from where he left off at the DII level. Finishing the season with a 5-2 record in nine games started, including four complete games and a 3.48 ERA, Clark served as the Saturday starter for most of the season.

The 5-foot-9 senior turned in the best pitching performance of the season for the Mountaineers at Kansas on April 6. Clark finished the day pitching a complete game shutout while giving up only three hits and striking out seven. It would lead to a 4-0 West Virginia victory en route to a series sweep of the Jayhawks.

Lineups for Saturday’s senior day against Kansas State will be released closer to the 3:00 p.m. first pitch, but it is likely that Clark will continue his Saturday starts. He will be honored along with the other three seniors on the team before the game at 2:15 p.m.