Mark Kingston aims to put USC back on right side of baseball’s ‘No. 1’ rivalry

Mark Kingston, only eight months a Gamecock, is an information gatherer. The South Carolina baseball coach wants to be prepared for everything related to his job. He’s picked the brains of Ray Tanner, former USC players and current Gamecocks to make these early days in garnet and black as natural as possible.

Speaking ahead of the most anticipated series of every year, Kingston on Thursday confirmed he had done his homework.

“In terms of great rivalries around the country,” Kingston said at Founders Park, “I’d put Clemson-South Carolina No. 1.”

The Gamecocks (6-3) and 14th-ranked Tigers (8-0) begin their annual traveling weekend series Friday in Columbia. First pitch from USC starter Adam Hill is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Kingston, a North Carolina alumnus who has had assistant coaching stints at Miami and Tulane, is no stranger to intense rivalries. On Thursday, he referenced the Hurricanes’ clashes with Florida State and Florida, and the Green Wave and LSU once playing at the Superdome in front of an NCAA record 27,673 fans.

But such experiences will soon take a step back when he leads the Gamecocks into Founders Park, Greenville’s Flour Field and Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium on consecutive days.

“This weekend is the greatest rivalry in college baseball,” Kingston said, “I think the best series in college baseball.”

Kingston’s first priority is to get USC back on the right side of the matchup. Tanner, his boss, didn’t lose a season series to the Tigers from 2007-12. Chad Holbrook, Kingston’s predecessor, beat Clemson in 2013 and 2014.

But the series has since been colored orange. No current Gamecock has been part of a Clemson series win.

“Last crack at it, it’s very important to me,” said senior third baseman Jonah Bride, a junior college transfer who joined the program in 2016. “This weekend, (I’m) just going to give my all every single pitch and just have that energy ready to go.”

The Tigers, a weekend removed from sweeping No. 10 Dallas Baptist, boast a feared lineup, anchored by two-time All-American Seth Beer. Beer saved two of his 16 home runs for USC last season, including a towering ninth inning blast that tied game three.

Clemson coach Monte Lee, a Carolina assistant from 2003-08, is 4-2 against the Gamecocks.

“When you play in a rivalry weekend against a great South Carolina club, we know the energy and emotions are going to be very high,” Lee said. “So I think the first key is we’ve got to find a way to relax, be loose and just play baseball.”

After averaging nine runs through its first seven games, South Carolina combined for six runs in consecutive losses to Charleston Southern (last Sunday) and Furman (Tuesday).

Clemson is starting sophomore left-hander Jacob Hennessy (1-0, 2.45 ERA) against Hill (1-1, 5.73) on Friday.

“We’ve had two games where our offense has sputtered a little bit and it’s given us an opportunity to see how teams attack us once they start to get more footage on us,” Kingston said. “We’re going to use it as a way to understand what we need to continue to improve. No team is ever perfect and the good teams make adjustments as you go.”

Kingston said he and Lee have a “mutual respect” for one another. There’s not a deep relationship, but the two have chatted with each other more than a few times over the last eight months.

“He’s very professional,” Lee said. “He’s done an amazing job wherever he’s been.”

USC is stop No. 3 for Kingston as a head coach. But neither Illinois State nor South Florida had a Clemson.

“The fans, they love this rivalry,” Kingston said. “As they should, it’s electric. But every time I speak, everybody I meet, they point to how important this series is to them. So I respect that immensely. I respect how important it is to everybody.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Mark Kingston aims to put USC back on right side of baseball’s ‘No. 1’ rivalry."