'Today is as good as I've seen us': USC feeling sharp heading into Arkansas super

While Arkansas baseball kept its last practice before the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals brief, going roughly half the time allotted, South Carolina used almost every minute possible at Baum Stadium on Friday.

When you're playing and feeling as good as the Gamecocks are right now, you don't want to stop.

USC enters its Super Regional on a roll, having gone 16-7 over the final portion of the season and 3-0 in its NCAA regional last weekend. On Friday, the team looked sharp as it prepped for a best-of-three series against the No. 5 nationally seeded Razorbacks.

"We're in a good place. We're loose, we're competitive but we're focused," coach Mark Kingston said. "That's what any team at this point trying to get to Omaha needs to be: loose, competitive but also very focused."

Making the trip to northwest Arkansas with Carolina, the squad's much-discussed pitching machines pumped in batting practice to the Gamecock hitters at 90 miles per hour, touching 94 at some points.

Kingston has said in the past that going against the machines has had a direct correlation with more productive hitters for USC, and he liked what he saw Friday afternoon.

"We put the machine out there at 90 miles per hour, and the guys were taking a lot of good swings. Usually when we're at our best, we're hitting that thing pretty well," Kingston said.

One of the guys taking those swings, senior third baseman Jonah Bride, went a step further in his evaluation.

"Honestly, today is as good as I've seen us hit the pitching machine," Bride said. "I don't know if it was throwing the ball straight or something, maybe the atmosphere, everyone's hyped.It was a good round of BP today, and we'll be excited and confident for tomorrow."

Bride also said the conditions — near 90 degrees and a slight breeze blowing — made for some big hits, something he said could continue this weekend.

FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS

Speaking of conditions, the last time South Carolina traveled to Arkansas was in mid-April, and the weather was far from ideal, with rain, wind and temperatures in the 40s.

Bride, however, said Friday that series, in which USC lost two of three, proved the team could play well against top-ranked competition. That confidence will be especially key in a venue where Arkansas has gone 32-4 this season.

"That was a series that when we played a doubleheader the second day, it was really chilly. Wasn't the most ideal conditions, but that was no excuse," Bride said. "It was definitely a close series the whole time, so we know we can hang with anybody in the country."

For his part, Kingston said his team now is better "in every area that you can be evaluated" when compared to their first series, but expressed optimism that it could still be beneficial considering the players' comfort level now.

"Familiarity is good for a team," Kingston said. "We're staying in the same hotel, you take the same route to the park, there's not that feeling out process of trying to figure out, 'OK, what is it going to feel like, what does it look like, what are the sightlines, what's it sound like?' We're familiar with all that so we can just focus on playing our best baseball."

PITCHING IN FLUX

Kingston continued to play coy Friday about his starting rotation for the weekend, but he did confirm that junior righty Adam Hill will start Game 1.

After that, it seems likely that sophomore Cody Morris will go Game 2 and freshman Carmen Mlodzinski will get Game 3, if necessary, but it is not confirmed, and Kingston said he wants to keep his options open.

"We'll play every game like it's a must-win game. We just want to continue to evaluate the trends of the series and how we use our bullpen will steer some of those decisions as we go," Kingston said.

Hill said he and his fellow pitchers have a similar confidence to the hitters at this point.

"Obviously they're a very good team, they swing it very well, so we just got to stay on our approach, go out there and attack the zone like we try to do every week," Hill said. "They're great hitters, but we can make the pitches to get them out."

SERIES DETAILS

Saturday: 6:30 p.m. eastern, ESPN2

Sunday: 3 p.m. eastern, ESPN

Monday: 7 p.m. eastern, ESPN

This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 6:54 PM with the headline "'Today is as good as I've seen us': USC feeling sharp heading into Arkansas super."