How Mark Kingston got USC baseball back to its standard, winning ways in Year 1
In 2010, Mark Kingston led Illinois State to its first appearance in the NCAA baseball tournament in 16 years. In 2015, he got South Florida to the Big Dance for the first time in 13 years.
In both instances, Kingston was in his first season at a new gig. The instant success was celebrated as it moved a pair of previously struggling programs into a national spotlight.
“We were able to shock a lot of people and get to the NCAA tournament and please those fan bases,” Kingston said.
On Feb. 16, 2018, Kingston coached in garnet and black for the first time. Founders Park attracted 7,384 spectators as South Carolina lost to VMI. When the Gamecocks officially made the NCAA tournament three months later, USC supporters likely just felt normal again.
At 2 p.m. Friday, second-seeded Carolina (33-24) takes on No. 3 Ohio State (36-22) to begin the Greenville (N.C.) Regional. After a long one-year absence, the Gamecocks are back in the Dance. Kingston, speaking during a Tuesday news conference at Founders, wasn’t blind to his surroundings.
“Obviously, being a part of this program, that is an expectation, it’s a goal,” he said.
The opening round of postseason baseball long has been the floor for USC. This is Carolina’s 32nd trip to a regional. Success this weekend and it’ll get to its 12th super regional since 2000. It’s been to the College World Series 11 times. It has two national titles.
Kingston on Tuesday didn’t need the media guide to rattle off the household names that helped form the current standard of USC baseball.
“It’s a combination of you’re very excited to get to this point, but also you want to do well because the postseason is what people get remembered for,” he said. “People remember Jackie Bradley playing in Omaha. Michael Roth made his name in the postseason.
“So, to me, that’s a big part of it. Our focus is on the opportunity, is on the excitement of it. And to me, that’s the only way to approach it. This is a great opportunity, let’s go attack it and see what happens.”
Kingston will now be judged by what he does Friday and beyond, sure, but it might not hurt to recognize what he’s already done for USC.
Getting the Gamecocks to the NCAA tournament in Year 1 wasn’t a given, especially on April 17 after they fell to Presbyterian to drop to 20-17. Kingston, a New York native and North Carolina alumnus, alluded to USC’s storied history to light a fire under his team.
“I think guys, when they come to this program, they know that you’re coming here to try to win the next national championship and get to Omaha and be a part of the Big Dance,” Kingston said. “We were at a point in this season, obviously, where it looked like it could be a long shot. So do you need to remind them of that? Yeah, you do need to remind them of that sometimes, that maybe we’re not doing enough, maybe you need to focus a little bit more, whatever the case may be.
“When you’re struggling as a group, as a program, everybody needs to make sure they look in the mirror and make sure everybody is doing everything possible to try to help the program.”
Carolina is 13-7 since, including series wins against LSU, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas A&M.
“His other teams may have been different, but you can tell he adapts to what he’s around and just learns how to work with them really well,” junior shortstop LT Tolbert said. “And for us, he basically just told us, for the guys that are upperclassmen that may have a chance to leave and sign, and the seniors, it’s their last chance. ‘Don’t wait to turn this thing around. Just because we didn’t make the playoffs last year and a lot of the same guys are back, we’re a good team right now and we can win a lot of good games against good teams right now. So there’s no reason to wait for a rebound year or whatever you want to call it. We can do it now. There’s no reason to think about next year.’”
Three colleges programs can now confirm that Kingston’s not into gradual rebuilds.
“I don’t know if he fully understood the expectations coming in,” senior first baseman Matt Williams said, “but he realizes now that this league is really tough and he knows what it takes to win a championship.
“I think he’s leading us in the right direction. The guys that are going to come after me, they’re going to know what to expect from him, and he’s only expecting the best.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 2:21 PM with the headline "How Mark Kingston got USC baseball back to its standard, winning ways in Year 1."