Hill delivers in first Friday-night start

Adam Hill didn’t have to wait long for his first experience on Friday night in the SEC. Just 18 starts into his career, he found himself starting an SEC opener on the marquee night in the conference.

With established Friday night starter Clarke Schmidt sidelined with an oblique injury, the Gamecocks turned to the sophomore righty against Tennessee.

“I just tried to keep myself calm and approach it like it was any other outing and just go right at hitters,” Hill said.

He didn’t disappoint.

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Hill finished pitching six innings and giving up just one run, getting out of jam after jam en route to a 7-1 win, his first victory of the season. Tennessee put runners on base in five of the six innings against Hill but could only scratch across one run on a RBI single in the sixth.

“My strategy was to go right at them. Mainly my changeup-fastball was working pretty good,” Hill said. “I struggled with my curveball and my slider, I mixed it in when I could but the plan was to go right at these guys and make them hit my pitches.”

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The Gamecocks were in a rough spot through three innings with an already depleted bullpen with Tyler Johnson not traveling with the team and Hill well over 60 pitches.

Dipping into the bullpen early would have given the Gamecocks less to work with through the rest of the weekend. Hill rallied, getting a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth inning and facing just 11 batters over his last three innings.

“If we had to go to the bullpen in the third or fourth inning,” head coach Chad Holbrook said, “it wouldn’t have set up well for us the rest of the weekend.”

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Hill, who’s made 14 starts on the weekend on Sunday, is used to seeing teams twice before getting a turn at pitching to a team. He responded by striking out five while walking just three.

“It was a fun experience. I really enjoyed it,” Hill said. “I was glad to get out there and help my team win.”

He managed to keep his emotions in check, not getting too high or low, as the Gamecocks coasted to the six-run lead to clinch their third-straight SEC win.

"He’s an even-keel kid," Holbrook said. "He’s going to be the same guy whether he’s throwing on Sunday, Friday or Tuesday; that’s just how his makeup is. He wanted this opportunity and he capitalized on it.”