FAYETTEVILLE — March has been a hard month for Travis Hill.

“To say the least,” Hill said, smiling.

Hill’s recent struggles were a thing of the past after he pitched six shutout innings Thursday in Arkansas’ 9-0 victory against Centenary at Baum Stadium. Hill allowed 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 4.

“I just want to pitch, midweek or the weekends,” said Hill, of Spokane, Wash. “When I get my shot, I want to be ready. To have a performance like that builds a lot of confidence in somebody.”

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It was Hill’s second consecutive start after eight relief appearances. Hill, a senior right-hander, was considered the team’s closer and had three saves in his first four appearances of the season. After earning a save against Ohio State on March 2, Hill had

2 given up 10 runs in 6 / 3 innings, including seven runs in his previous two appearances.

“You just have to remember how long you’ve been playing and the good performances you’ve had to get here,” Hill said. “You can’t let a couple of bad outings get you down.”

Hill was in control from the first inning against the Gents. He cruised through the first inning and started a 1-6-3 double play in the second.

His only trouble came in the third when two consecutive hit batters loaded the bases with two outs, but Hill retired Steele Lewis on a grounder to end the inning.

“I thought he was pretty good,” Centenary Coach Ed McCann said. “Coach [Dave ] Van Horn told me he was a reliever and he don’t never get a start. The scouting report wasn’t right on him.”

Van Horn said he started Hill just to get him some work. He said Hill has a “rubber arm” and could start midweek games and still be fresh enough to close on the weekend.

Against the Gents, Hill relied mainly on his fastball during the first few innings and then began to mix in other pitches. He threw 68 pitches in the game.

“I thought Travis did a great job,” Van Horn said. “We were just trying to get some work. We’re just trying to get him some work so he’ll be ready on the weekend.”

Hill said the scouting report on the Gents was the hitters like to extend their arms and drive pitches the other way. He countered that by working the inside part of the plate with fastballs.

“If you can locate your fastball, it helps a lot,” Hill said. “It is a good-hitting club, and we just lived on the inside part of the plate.”

With Arkansas’ pitching in a troubled state, Hill could be used more this year as a starter. Hill said he liked Van Horn’s idea of being a midweek starter and a weekend closer.

“That’s awesome,” Hill said. “I’ve never really had arm problems. If they want me to throw often, I’m up for it.”