South Carolina vs. Charleston Southern Game 1 Recap: Gamecocks Blank Bucs 7-0

If you like good pitching and home runs, this South Carolina team might be for you.

As they have all season, the Gamecocks took an early lead, going up 2-0 in the second on a homer by Jacob Olson. They added another run in the third inning, courtesy of an LT Tolbert dinger to make the score 3-0.

Two more runs came in the sixth inning, after Tolbert singled and got to second on an error with two outs, and Olson tallied another homer to put USC up 5-0. In the seventh inning, Noah Campbell hit his first home run as a Gamecock to give South Carolina a 6-0 lead. The final run of the game - and the only one scored via small ball - came in the eighth inning, when Carlos Cortes doubled to start the inning and an RBI single by Chris Cullen brought him home.

Starting pitcher Adam Hill was tremendous today, working seven scoreless innings and an almost perfect game (an infielder error earlier in the game was the only blemish). He didn’t allow any hits or runs, and he didn’t walk any batters. He struck out 14, which is a personal and Founder’s Park record. Hill also got the win and is now 1-1 the season. Hunter Lomas and Parker Coyne combined to go the rest of the way for the Gamecocks, nd they both did a nice job of keeping the Bucs batters quiet.

CSU was really never in this game, and despite not getting a ton of hits, USC’s offense got things done, something that didn’t always happen last season. Both Hill’s performance and the Gamecocks offense’s as a whole were encouraging and hopefully signs of a strong season to come.

With the win, South Carolina is now 5-1, while Charleston Southern drops to 2-3. They’ll be back in action o Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Founder’s Park. Cody Morris will start on the mound for the Gamecocks.