The University of Mississippi Athletics
Baseball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Year at Ole Miss:
- 11th
- E-mail:
- clement@olemiss.edu
- Phone:
- 662-915-6643
- Alma Mater:
- Morningside (2002)
Mike Clement is in his 10th season at Ole Miss, serving as the team’s hitting coach and third base coach. Clement joined the Rebels’ coaching staff prior to the 2015 season after spending two years at Kansas State University.
Under Clement, the Rebel offense has consistently been established as one of the nation's best. During the team's 2022 national championship run, Ole Miss scored 82 runs over 11 postseason games, never being shut out. They outscored their opponents 82-23 with a postseason scoring margin of +59 and hit 17 home runs during that time. Tim Elko set a new program single-season record for home runs with 24, second-most in the SEC and 11th best in the nation. Elko was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region First Team for the second-straight season and the All-SEC Second Team for the first time in his career. Jacob Gonzalez also earned All-SEC honors, being named to the First Team for the first time in his career.
Ole Miss finished third in the nation with 656 hits and fifth in runs scored with 478 in 2021. Freshman Jacob Gonzalez finished sixth nationally in hits and fifth in runs scored, leading all true freshman in both categories en route to D1Baseball Freshman of the Year honors. Gonzalez also earned All-America honors, becoming just the second freshman in program history to do so. Justin Bench led the nation in hit by pitch en route to All-SEC honors. Hayden Dunhurst also cleaned up on the awards trail, earning the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove award at catcher, in addition to All-SEC, SEC All-Defense and SEC All-Newcomer honors.
No team hit more home runs than Clement’s Ole Miss squad during the shortened 2020 season. Ten different Rebels combined to hit 37 home runs—six more than any other team in the country. Ole Miss also finished top 20 nationally in slugging percentage (3rd), runs per game (3rd), runs scored (5th) and walks drawn (7th) and on-base percentage (16th). Third baseman Tyler Keenan led the SEC and finished second nationally in RBIs with 33 on his way to First Team All-America honors. The eventual 4th Round MLB Draft Pick finished eighth in the nation and second in the SEC with seven home runs. Shortstop Anthony Servideo was selected in the third round and was a Second Team All-American after finishing fourth in the country in runs scored, ninth in on-base percentage and second in walks drawn.
In 2019, Ole Miss finished in the top 25 nationally in hits, walks, runs scored and home runs. The 2019 squad set program records for walks drawn (351), fielding percentage (.978) and stolen bases (93). Four players hit .310 or better on the year, and four players hit double-digit home runs: freshman Kevin Graham (10), Cole Zabowski (12), Thomas Dillard (14) and Tyler Keenan (15). Grae Kessinger had a spectacular year, earning First Team All-American and Brooks Wallace Award honors while hitting a team-best .330 with 18 doubles, seven home runs, 50 RBIs and 67 runs scored, the fourth-most in program history. Cooper Johnson was tremendous behind the plate as well, drawing Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team nods.
The 2018 season was undoubtedly Clement’s best year to date at Ole Miss. The Rebels, under the guidance of their hitting coach, shattered a slew of school records, topped the conference in a number of batting categories and used an expansive offensive arsenal to give the SEC it’s only .300 team average at the plate in 2018. Eight of the starting nine players on this past year’s team had batting averages over .300 by the end of the year, good for an even .300 average for the season. A relentless lineup carried the Rebels to a record 48 wins, and opposing pitchers found no weak spot in any spot throughout the Ole Miss batting order. The Rebels ranked in the SEC’s top five in almost every major offensive category, including hits, batting average, runs scored, on base percentage and doubles.
One of the SEC’s leading bats emerged in Ryan Olenek during the 2018 campaign, and under Clement’s tutelage, the junior outfielder’s production surged. Olenek at one point held the SEC’s longest active hitting streak at 23 games, and topped a number of offensive categories for the Rebels. His .350 batting average led the pack by a good deal, and his 83 hits were the highest on the team. The right fielder also led the Rebels in doubles and had eight fewer strikeouts than any of his teammates.
Comparing the offensive numbers from 2017 to 2018 shows truly how remarkable the Rebel batting order turnaround was over the year. Clement helped raise the batting average .050 points, the slugging percentage .095 points, on-base percentage .053 points, and added 132 runs, 114 hits, 24 doubles, 24 home runs, 128 RBI and 210 total bases just over the course of one season, from the 2017 campaign to last year.
In Clement's third season, the 2017 Rebels finished in the top quarter of the SEC in doubles and home runs during conference play. Hitting 53 doubles and 26 homers throughout 30 conference games, Ole Miss ranked fourth in both categories. One of the Rebels' most consistent hitters was second baseman Tate Blackman, who continued the momentum from his sophomore campaign to hit over .300 again in 2017. In his final season as a Rebel, Blackman cracked the top 15 in the SEC in slugging percentage (.525) and on base percentage (.420). During the summer, he was taken in the 13th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.
For the third consecutive season, Clement helped an Ole Miss catcher improve dramatically at the plate. After Henri Lartigue led all SEC catchers in batting average in 2016, Nick Fortes used his bat to squeze into the everyday lineup in 2017. With Clement advising Fortes and his approach, the sophomore hit .319 to lead the Rebels at the dish. A year later, with Fortes again behind the plate, the Rebel catcher was one of the team’s leading bats, consistently hitting third with a .319 average for the second consecutive year. He was also one of the biggest home run threats in 2018, recording 11 home runs which was second only to Thomas Dillard’s 13.
During the 2016 campaign, Clement’s guidance led to breakout seasons from a trio of Rebels. J.B. Woodman turned in an All-American season, hitting .323 with 54 RBI and 14 homers to become the first Rebel to lead the Southeastern Conference in home runs since 1977. After spending the 2015 campaign as a backup catcher, Lartigue saw his draft stock rise due to his production at the plate; the switch-hitting catcher posted a team-high .353 batting average for the Red and Blue, a mark that was best among all SEC catchers and ranked ninth among conference hitters that led to first team All-SEC accolades. Woodman and Lartigue’s offensive success led to them getting drafted in the second and seventh round, respectively, in the 2016 MLB Draft.
Following a disappointing freshman season, Blackman bounced back in 2016 with the help of Clement. Hitting at a .322 clip and leading the conference in sacrifice flies, Blackman earned second team All-SEC honors. The steady offense at the dish helped the Rebels go 43-19 in 2016, earning a NCAA Tournament bid as a host site for regional play. Ole Miss became just one of 11 teams to host a NCAA Regional for the seventh time in the last 13 years.
During his first year as the Rebels’ hitting coach, Clement helped lead the Rebels to the postseason after facing the nation’s toughest schedule during the regular season. Ole Miss broke out the bats in big games to go 7-6 against top-10 teams, including 5-4 versus teams ranked No. 1 in the country. Clement worked with youthful Ole Miss bats while also continuing to develop the production of Rebels with experience in the lineup. With the assistance of Clement’s instruction, junior college transfer Connor Cloyd earned his way into a starting role, hitting .369 over 38 games played in 2015. Freshman Will Golsan and sophomore Colby Bortles, two new starters in the Ole Miss infield, found success at the plate throughout the season as well. Golsan hit at a .290 clip in his first collegiate season, and Bortles proved he could produce in the middle of the order with a .281 average and 47 RBI.
Transitioning into his sophomore season, shortstop Errol Robinson maintained his production under Clement with a team-high 62 hits and a .297 average. In his first season at Ole Miss, Clement also saw Ole Miss senior slugger Sikes Orvis etch his name in the program record book. Orvis belted 16 home runs in his final season as a Rebel, the seventh-most in Ole Miss history, and added 17 doubles to help knock in a team-best 53 runs.
In two years as hitting coach at K-State, Clement made an immediate impact on the Wildcat offense, raising it to not only among the Big 12 Conference's best, but also near the top of the national leaderboard.
Named the K-State hitting coach in July of 2012, Clement led the Wildcat offense to the nation's second-best batting average in 2013 while the team went on to capture the Big 12 title, host and win its first NCAA Regional, and come within one victory of the program making its first trip to the College World Series. In addition to a high national ranking in batting average, the Wildcats were also ranked in the top 10 nationally in six other categories, finishing fifth in hits (705), triples (28) and sacrifice flies (40), eighth in triples per game (0.44) and on-base percentage (.406), and 10th in hit-by-pitch (96). The Wildcats paced the Big 12 in each of those categories in addition to RBI (368) and steals (99).
In 2014, the Wildcats were second among Big 12 teams in OBP (.385), third in runs per game (5.8), and fourth in team batting average (.283). Nationally, K-State was 25th in OBP and tied for 18th in stolen bases.
Clement, a veteran coach with 11 years of experience at the Division I level and strong recruiting ties in the state of Texas, tutored a pair of All-Americans, seven All-Big 12 performers, and four MLB draft picks who went on to play professionally. Ross Kivett, the Big 12's Player of the Year in 2013, was one of seven hitters in Clement's first year that earned All-Big 12 honors, a group that included six first team selections. Kivett joined fellow All-Big 12 First Team selection Jared King as the two Wildcats who also garnered All-American accolades in 2013. King went on to be selected in the fifth round of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets, which was the first time he had been drafted.
Kivett was also drafted in 2013, in the 10th round by the Cleveland Indians, but he elected to return for his senior season. The outfielder and second baseman received All-Big 12 honors once again while he was one of three hitters under Clement's direction taken in the 2014 MLB Draft. Kivett was selected in the sixth round by the Detroit Tigers - the fourth hitter drafted in the sixth round or higher who had worked with Clement since 2006 - and Mitch Meyer and Austin Fisher were taken in the seventh and 13th round, respectively. In 10 years at the Division I level, Clement has had 26 players get selected in the MLB Draft.
Prior to coming to K-State, Clement was on the staff at Texas A&M for three years after spending the previous four seasons at UTSA, including the final three as the team's hitting coach. In addition to helping the Wildcats reach the Super Regional round in 2013, Clement was a member of three other postseason teams, including a trip to the 2011 College World Series.
Texas A&M advanced to postseason play each year Clement was a part of the coaching staff. He helped guide the Aggies to both the Big 12 conference regular-season and postseason championship titles in 2011 on their way to a College World Series appearance. In 2010, Texas A&M won the Big 12 Championship and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Coral Gables Regional, while the Aggies hosted a NCAA Regional in 2012.
Clement helped direct an Aggie offense in 2012 that led the Big 12 and ranked fourth nationally with 129 steals. Also, Clement coached the Texas A&M infielders that saw its 2011 squad decrease its errors by 23 from the previous year and finish in the top 25 nationally with a .975 fielding percentage.
During his time at UTSA from 2006-09, Clement helped the Roadrunners accumulate a 144-81 overall record - including an impressive 84-40 mark in Southland Conference play - win two Southland Conference regular season titles, tutor 16 hitters that earned All-Southland Conference honors and set 30 offensive school records. Additionally, UTSA saw its team batting average jump 32 points from .285 the year before he took over the offense to .317 during his final season, a mark that still stands as the school record.
In his final year as the hitting coach in San Antonio, Clement steered an offense that rewrote the record books as he helped the Roadrunners win a school-record 39 games. Along the way, UTSA set new highs in five offensive categories, including home runs, hits and batting average. UTSA finished in the top 25 nationally in triples (11th; 25), slugging percentage (20th; .532) and home runs (21st; 89), while the 2009 squad also stole 79 bases to rank third in school history, the most since a school-record 92 in 1999.
Clement tutored just the second All-American in UTSA history in Michael Rockett. The outfielder, who was a four-time All-Southland Conference performer, was drafted in the 13th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by Detroit.
Prior to his stint at UTSA, Clement served as an assistant for one year at Kirkwood Junior College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and then spent one year at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. He was also an assistant coach for the Orleans Cardinals in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League in the summers of 2005 and 2006, winning a Cape Cod Championship in 2005.
A former college catcher, Clement played two seasons at Kirkwood, helping the Eagles compile a 91-25 record. He finished his college career at Morningside, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education/secondary education in 2002. Following college, the Marshalltown, Iowa, native played professionally one season for the Canton Coyotes of the Frontier League.
Clement comes from a baseball background as his father, Brad, was a legendary head coach at Marshalltown (Iowa) High School, helping the Bobcats win three state championships before being inducted into the Iowa High School Hall of Fame. Clement's younger brother, Jeff, was drafted in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners. The eight-year veteran spent time in the majors with Seattle and Pittsburgh before retiring prior to the start of the 2014 season.
Clement is married to the former Amanda Rosenberg of Kingwood, Texas. They have one son, Cooper.
THE CLEMENT FILE
Coaching Career
2015-present: Assistant Coach, Ole Miss
2012-14: Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Kansas State
2009-11: Assistant Coach, Texas A&M
2006-09: Assistant Coach, Texas-San Antonio
2005: Assistant Coach, Kirkwood Junior College
