Gamecocks clinch series against Alabama behind Noah Hall’s latest gem
Noah Hall never intended to be South Carolina’s secondary starter after his transfer from Appalachian State. In a perfect world, he’d be relieving Will Sanders, Julian Bosnic or James Hicks on a weekend evening in Southeastern Conference play.
But Bosnic hasn’t pitched an inning this year due to a lingering elbow issue. Hicks made it through two games before Tommy John surgery ended his campaign.
Enter Hall.
Friday, the Charlotte native armed with a flowing mane of bleached blonde hair swaggily skipped from home plate to the pitcher’s mound after he barehanded a dribbler to his perch and flipped it to catcher Colin Burgess to catch Alabama’s lead runner at the plate.
This is the version of Hall, the one that oozed confidence as he struck out seven of the first 16 Crimson Tide batters he faced, that paced the Gamecocks (21-20, 8-12 SEC) to a series clinching 2-1 win Friday night at Founders Park.
“He’s a talented kid,” head coach Mark Kingston said postgame. “But he has far exceeded everybody’s expectations.”
Sanders has and will remain the ace of the Gamecocks pitching staff so long as he remains healthy. But Hall has cemented himself as one of the more reliable No. 2 arms in the SEC over the past month.
He’d pitched at least 5.2 innings in his past six starts entering the weekend. He lasted seven innings or more in three of those appearances. Hall had also thrown more than 100 pitches on four separate occasions before tossing 109 against the Crimson Tide.
Not bad for a player who started just five games over his previous two seasons of college baseball.
Friday, Hall worked pitches in and out of the zone with ease, while his fastball stuck in the low 90 mile-per-hour range. Alabama (25-19, 9-11 SEC) also failed to keep up with the cutter he only began adding to his arsenal in December, and that he’s increasingly leaned on since shifting from reliever to starter in mid-March.
“My fastball when I first came in my freshman year (at App State) it didn’t have this spin on it,” Hall explained. “...I always thought about throwing a cutter, but this year I started starting, so I needed four pitches. I was like, ‘I might as well turn it into a cutter and get my four-seam right.”
Even in his the momentary lapses in effectiveness against a Crimson Tide squad that is a likely bound for the NCAA tournament, Hall was sharp.
Alabama tagged South Carolina’s starter for back-to-back singles in the third inning. Hall promptly struck out Zane Denton looking and induced a grounder to the mound to end the frame.
One inning later, Hall walked Crimson Tide No. 9 hitter Caden Rose on four pitches. He retired his next three batters via a pop fly and a pair of strikeouts.
“I just feel really good,” Hall said. “My legs feel really strong. My body feels really good. I’m staying flexible. Making sure my arm is okay. I’m just staying in rhythm and using my core a lot — that’s been the key.”
Behind Hall’s gritty effort, it was an eighth inning sac fly from leadoff man Brandt Belk that gave South Carolina just its third SEC series win this season.
Freshman Evan Stone battled through a 2-2 count to draw an inning-opening walk. Swiping second on a hit-and-run whiff by Belk, Stone raced to his feet and slid in safely at third before Belk plated him with a deep drive to the warning track in left field.
“I better get on my horse,” Stone thought as he watched the throw from Alabama catcher Dominic Tamez slip into the outfield.
“He’s a work in progress as a hitter, but his competitiveness is what allowed him to get on base there,” Kingston said. “(He) just fought pitches off — 96-97 (miles per hour) — fouled one off, fouled one off and then finally worked that walk.”
Racing out of the dugout, Hall snapped a towel and chest bumped South Carolina closer Matthew Becker along the first base line as they celebrated the final out of the Gamecocks’ rousing win.
It’s been 55 days since Hall first took the mound as a starter in South Carolina’s 10-2 loss to Clemson. If the Gamecocks hope to continue a slim, but not impossible charge toward a postseason berth, his arm will be at the center of the equation.
Game 3: South Carolina vs Alabama
The Gamecocks led the Crimson Tide 9-5 through 6 innings on Saturday in the team’s quest to sweep the series.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 9:38 PM.
