Look Back, Look Ahead: Hill, Schmidt in a good place as SEC play begins
Less than a month ago, freshman right-hander Adam Hill was just another young pitcher hoping for an opportunity to make a contribution in his first year of major college baseball.
This weekend, he will likely start against Arkansas in South Carolina’s opening SEC series.
Quickly emerging as one of USC’s best pitchers, Hill has been brilliant in his first four outings, allowing just 12 hits and one run in 19.1 innings with 32 strikeouts and three walks for an impressive strikeout-to-walk ration of nearly 11-to-1.
Sunday, Hill made his first weekend start of his career, blanking Charleston Southern over 5.1 innings on just four hits while striking out eight and issuing just one walk.
Sixty-one (61) of Hill’s 89 pitches were thrown over the plate, a strike percentage of 68.5 percent.
“We moved Adam to the weekend because of how good he has been,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “He’s thrown very well. He has been crisp and clean and his line is good. He throws strikes. He works ahead in the count. His command is very good. He has some confidence going. He has some zip on his fastball. Since January he has been one of our best guys.
“He deserved the opportunity (to pitch on the weekend) because he has pitched as well as anybody on our staff.”
Hill hasn’t been the lone standout Gamecock hurler. Sophomore RHP Clarke Schmidt extended his scoreless inning streak to 24 innings in Friday’s 9-0 win over Charleston Southern. Schmidt allowed just four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in 7.1 innings. He improved to 4-0 with a 0.32 ERA in 28.1 IP on the year.
Schmidt and Hill are two of eight pitchers in the SEC tied for the most wins on the season (4).
Which pitchers are first and second in the SEC in Earned Run Average? Schmidt and Hill.
“Their numbers have not been much different,” Holbrook said. “They have ben tit for tat from a numbers standpoint as far as how they have thrown, both against our hitters (in scrimmages) and teams we’ve been playing against.”
NOTES:
-- The Gamecocks announced Monday that junior RHP Taylor Widener will start Tuesday night’s road contest at USC Upstate in Greenville (Fluor Field). Widener is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 12.2 IP with 12 strikeouts and four walks.
-- JUCO transfer Dom Thompson-Williams hit .526 (10-for-19) with three homers, two doubles, six runs scored and nine RBI in the five games last week. He had two or more hits in four of the five games last week. For the season, he is hitting .391 with four HR and 14 RBI. He leads the Gamecocks with 43 total bases and 19 runs scored with a .487 on-base percentage. Thompson-Williams has reached base in all 17 games this year and carries a six-game hitting streak into the new week.
-- Alex Destino owns a nine-game hitting streak. He is batting .348 (24-for-69) with 20 RBI in 17 games. He is tied for the team lead in home runs with four. DH John Jones leads the SEC in hitting with a .426 batting average (26-for-61). He has a team-high 21 RBI and 13 walks.
-- The Gamecocks are ranked No. 12 in the latest USA Today Coaches poll, No. 16 by D1Baseball.com, No. 17 by NCBWA and No. 20 by Collegiate baseball.
-- Junior LHP Josh Reagan picked up three saves last week and now leads the SEC with six saves. Reagan has not allowed a run in eight relief appearances, limiting opponents to six hits and two walks while striking out 12 in 13.2 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .130 against him.
-- South Carolina’s pitching staff posted a pair of shutouts vs. Charleston Southern this past weekend and now have three on the year. The Gamecocks have allowed five runs or less in all 17 games this season, two runs or less in 10 games. USC owns a 1.85 team ERA with 38 runs allowed on 104 hits in 151.0 innings pitched.
-- Freshman catcher Chris Cullen has 11 starts behind the plate. He is batting .302 (13-for-43) with six runs scored and eight RBI.
-- USC utilized three different leadoff hitters in the Charleston Southern series – Gene Cone on Friday, Marcus Mooney Saturday and Jonah Bride Sunday. Overall, Holbrook has called upon seven different leadoff hitters in 17 games. “The leadoff spot is a work in progress, especially when a lefty is throwing,” Holbrook said. “Jonah (Bride), John (Jones), Destino and Dom (Thompson-Williams) are giving us some consistent at-bats. We need some guys in front of them to get on base. If we do that, we’ll increase our scoring output.”
-- USC did not commit an error in the Charleston Southern series, pushing its errorless streak to six games. “The plan for our team is throw strikes, pitch and play defense and make it difficult for our opponent to score,” Holbrook said. “If we do that, we’ll win our fair share.”
-- South Carolina is 9-0 all-time against USC Upstate, including a 17-0 victory last year in Columbia when USC belted out 18 hits, scoring four runs in the third inning and five runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach early.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
March 8 vs. Wofford, W 7-1
March 9 vs. Furman, W 5-4
March 11 vs. Charleston Southern, W 9-0
March 12 vs. Charleston Southern, W 5-4
March 13 vs. Charleston Southern, W 2-0
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Tuesday at USC Upstate (at Greenville), 7 p.m.
Wednesday vs. Davidson, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Friday vs. Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday vs. Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday vs. Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
