Sam Hill and Kace Matthews combined for seven innings of shutout baseball on Thursday night.

The senior and junior duo struck out 14 opposing batters as West Jones beat Purvis 4-0 on Day 1 of the Adidas Deep South Baseball Tournament.

“We preach to our guys that it starts on the mound and playing defense,” said West Jones baseball head coach Trey Sutton. “Sam [Hill] threw great, and Kace [Matthews] came in and did what he’s been doing. And our guys played good defense behind them both.”

West Jones (4-2) faces Oak Grove (6-0) Friday night on Day 2 of the tournament. Oak Grove remained unbeaten on the season with an 8-7 win over MRA in Day 1 of the tournament as well.

The game Thursday night started as a good ole fashion pitchers' duel. Hill, West Jones' ace, and Purvis ace Jesse Johnson delivered four complete innings of scoreless baseball.

Then came the fifth.

“Purvis threw a really good arm at us to start the game,” said Sutton. “We talk to our guys all the time about staying in it and staying after it through the middle of games, especially when you’re facing a good arm, and scratching runs across.”

West Jones plated all four of the night's runs with two outs in the inning. An RBI single by Austin Moody got things started, and run-scoring doubles by seniors Adam Bassett and Hill added to it.

"Our guys did a great job at the plate with two outs," Sutton said. "Things began to snowball, and we were able to give four runs out of it."

Moody and Hill led the Mustangs with two hits apiece, both notching their two hits in back-to-back plate appearances.

Hill added another bottom frame to his night on the mound to conclude five innings of no-hit baseball. He finished with season-high 12 strikeouts and walked four.

"That's what he's got in him," said Sutton. "We feel like every time he goes out, we have a shot at winning. Hill has a good chance to shut everyone down because he has such great stuff. He has velocity and three secondary pitches that he can throw. He and our catcher, [Adam] Bassett, did a good job calling the game."

Matthews, who pitched the final two frames, allowed just three hits - two of which were infield singles - and struck out two.

Purvis attempted to spoil West Jones’ shutout night by loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but a 6-4 force out ended the game.

Notes:

James Coffin, Bassett, and Matthews had solo hits apiece for West Jones.

Johnson tossed four and two-third innings for Purvis, giving up four earned runs on six hits.