Wes Clarke reaches historic home run milestone as Gamecocks shut out App State
Just as the regular season starts to wind down and the postseason draws near, South Carolina baseball’s Wes Clarke has found his stroke again.
The junior slugger joined elite company Tuesday, becoming just the ninth Gamecock ever to reach 20 home runs in a season, and powered No. 21 USC to a 2-0 victory over Appalachian State in the final midweek contest of the year.
Clarke’s homer came in the bottom of the first inning with no runners on, going 378 feet to left field, and it proved to be all the offense Carolina needed to claim its fourth win in a row.
It also extended Clarke’s own streak of reaching base safely to 10 consecutive games. In that stretch, he has gone 12 for 37 with 12 walks and five home runs. It’s been a welcome return to form for Clarke, who started the season on a tear and was named a midseason All-American by Perfect Game, only to then become mired in a slump. Over the first six SEC series of the season, he was hitting just .180 with three home runs and one double.
With his recent hot streak at the plate, Clarke is now tied with Derick Urquhart for 10th in program history in single-season home runs. The only other Gamecocks ahead of him are Yaron Peters, Nick Ebert, Justin Smoak (twice), Joe Dantin, Tripp Kelly, Steve Pearce (twice) and Tim Whittaker.
With Clarke providing the early lead, the USC pitching staff picked up its second shutout in three games. Unlike this past Saturday, though, when junior Brett Kerry did it all with a complete game four-hitter, the Gamecocks used a combination of four arms to get the job done Tuesday.
Junior CJ Weins, who stepped into the midweek starter role after freshman Jack Mahoney went down with a torn UCL, picked up the victory, his first as a Gamecock. He set the tone early, striking out the side in the first inning, and went four no-hit innings before leaving on a predetermined pitch count.
In his place, senior John Gilreath, junior Daniel Lloyd and freshman Will Sanders combined to allow just four baserunners the rest of the game, with two being erased off a double play and a pickoff.
Meanwhile, the USC offense tacked on an insurance run in the fifth after senior infielder Joe Satterfield doubled down the third base line, advanced to third on a groundout and scored when junior outfielder Brady Allen lofted a sacrifice fly to right field.
NEXT USC BASEBALL SERIES
Who: No. 21 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Tennessee
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday
Where: Founders Park
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus on Thursday and Friday, SEC Network on Saturday
