'This is Gamecock baseball': USC finds its identity as NCAA tourney arrives
With a 1-2 record in the SEC tournament this week, South Carolina baseball didn't dramatically improve or harm its NCAA tourney résumé — it still seems as though USC will be in as a No. 2 or 3 seed — but to hear coach Mark Kingston tell it, those three games did make a difference, and for the better.
"There's no team that fights as hard as we do right now," Kingston said after the Gamecocks were eliminated by LSU on Thursday. "We have maximized everything we have. We're going to take that into the NCAA Tournament and try to get to Omaha. This team fights. This team battles. We fall behind, we tie the game. It's just what we are and what we will continue to be moving forward. This is Gamecock baseball: playing with toughness and discipline and never giving in."
After rallying to defeat Missouri well past midnight in the SEC championship's opening round, USC did lose twice, but it came back from a 10-1 deficit to make things competitive against Arkansas at 1 a.m., and it rallied twice against LSU to force extra innings.
"That's what this team is about. That's what we've shown all year long is just go up there and fight. That's just what we do," junior outfielder Jacob Olson told reporters after the Gamecocks went 12 innings with the Tigers.
And that identity, which Carolina forged this week and over its last five SEC series, will be what defines the squad when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, Kingston predicted.
"When you go through this grind, you get hardened. We'll be prepared for the NCAA Tournament. Wherever we go, we will be ready," he promised. "We learned a lot about our team. We had guys get experience in this tournament, in this environment, that I think will help us. If you have to get into the loser's bracket in an NCAA Tournament setting, you're going to need guys that maybe don't play as much to help you win those games. The experience of being here, especially for the young guys, will pay off."
Now all that's left is the wait — the NCAA selection show takes place Monday at noon, and the Gamecocks will be watching at a local restaurant with fans, confident that they've done enough to return to the field of 64. A month ago, that scenario seemed far-fetched.
In the meantime, Kingston said, the team will focus on recovery from a long three days and games, while also getting its hitters back on the machines that have powered the offense all year long.
"At this point in the season, the teams that are the freshest, that are the strongest, that are taking care of themselves on and off the field, play the best. We've done everything we need to do to this point to be prepared for the NCAA Tournament," Kingston said. "The next week will be key that we as coaches put out a good blueprint to get them ready and that our players take responsibility and do what they need to do off the field to make sure they're ready."
USC tournament résumé
Record: 33-24, 17-13 SEC
Standings: Fifth in SEC
Rankings: No. 22 in Baseball America, No. 23 in D1Baseball.com, No. 25 in NCBWA
RPI: 38 (after Thursday's games)
Best wins: Home sweep of LSU (RPI 41), road series win against Vanderbilt (RPI 33), home series win against Ole Miss (RPI 9), home series win against Missouri (RPI 47), road series win against Texas A&M (RPI 14)
Worst losses:Presbyterian (RPI 277), Furman (RPI 150), The Citadel (RPI 243), one home loss in series to Charleston Southern (RPI 255), one home loss in series to VMI (RPI 174)
Projections: Baseball America (May 22) — No. 2 seed in regional hosted by North Carolina; D1Baseball (May 21) — No. 2 seed in regional hosted by North Carolina State
WATCH PARTY
Who: South Carolina baseball team, open to all fans
Where: J’s Corner, 1015 Rosewood Drive, Columbia
When: Monday — doors open 11 a.m., selection show begins at 12 p.m.
Watch: Selection show will be televised on ESPN2
This story was originally published May 25, 2018 at 1:56 PM with the headline "'This is Gamecock baseball': USC finds its identity as NCAA tourney arrives."