South Carolina secured their fourth win in as many games, earning a 5-0 victory over Appalachian State behind the electrifying debut performance of freshman Adam Hill.
Hill made a pretty good first impression with Gamecock fans. The 6-foot-5 right-hander put up quite the stat line in his first start — fanning 11 batters without yielding any walks in six shutout innings.
Hill sat comfortably in the 88-91 m.p.h. range on the stadium gun with his fastball. The pitch plays up due to its late life and movement. His long levers hide the ball well and Appalachian State had a tough time picking it up out of his hand. The fastball command really stood out for the young hurler — he pounded all four quadrants of the zone and got ahead early on in at-bats. He also mixed in his secondary pitches, a slider and a changeup, later on in the count.
Coach Chad Holbrook was not surprised by Hill’s spectacular outing. “Ever since we came back from the holiday break, he’s been like that almost each and every time out. It’s been really fun to watch him grow and develop. We thought when we signed Adam we were getting a kid that had bright future here, and I think now you can see why we thought that,” he said.
“I was able to work my fastball in and out. I was able to put my slider however I wanted — whether for a strike, or for a swing-and-miss," Hill said. "My changeup was working well.”
Offensively South Carolina didn't swing the bats particularly well on the chilly, damp evening, but did just enough with runners in scoring position to get the job done. The top of the order really struggled, with the top four hitters going hitless in 14 at-bats.
Senior shortstop Marcus Mooney put South Carolina up 2-0 in the second when he clobbered a ball to left field, but Appalachian State's Tyler Stroup dropped the ball on the warning track. The play was scored a sacrifice fly with an error on Stroup, so Mooney earned credit for just one RBI on the play. On a warmer day, the ball would likely have left the field for a grand slam. Mooney drove in a second run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Junior Gene Cone also had a good day at the plate, picking up three hits and scoring two runs.
South Carolina will host Winthrop at 4 p.m. Wednesday, weather permitting.