As NCAA chances fade, what Mark Kingston is looking for in Gamecocks’ last few series
As May begins, South Carolina baseball is staring down a harsh, unfamiliar reality — barring a miracle run, the Gamecocks’ NCAA tournament chances are slim to none.
To be fair, USC has missed the tourney before, but for a program accustomed to playing into June, it’s very early for Carolina to be absent from the national discussion.
Coach Mark Kingston’s club still has three SEC series left to play, plus the conference tournament if it can crack the top 12 in league standings. So what can the fans and Kingston learn and utilize from a final month of games likely devoid of high stakes?
Speaking on 107.5 FM this past week, Kingston gave some insight into his thought process.
“Mentally, at this point, (the players) understand it’s one game at a time, give your best effort every day you get a chance go out there and wear that uniform,” Kingston said. “That’s our mindset. It’s not a team that’s going to mail it in or throw in the towel, it’s a team that’s going to compete as hard as it can. And that’s what it’s been doing, we just haven’t been getting the results we want.”
Nine consecutive wins to end the regular season would push South Carolina onto the NCAA bubble, but it would still leave them with a losing conference record thanks to seven consecutive SEC series losses. And the Gamecocks face an extraordinarily tall task this weekend against No. 4 Vanderbilt at home and May 16-18 against No. 6 Mississippi State on the road.
Both those programs are College World Series contenders that feature some of the nation’s best-hitting lineups. Even taking two out of three against either of them would qualify as a pleasant surprise for the Gamecocks.
That leaves Kingston balancing his obvious desire to win with the reality that victories will be hard to come by. As a coach, he has previously brushed aside phrases like “moral victories,” but even without winning, these next few series could be important as measuring sticks, he told 107.5.
“We’re going to go out there and try to win every game like we have all year. We’re going to put our best foot forward and we’re going to use it to evaluate, because (Vanderbilt is) right now where we need to go get to that level,” Kingston said. “So it’s going to be a great way to evaluate the differences in where we are right now and where they are right now, and we’re going to go out there and give it everything we got and we’re also going to use it as an opportunity to see how we stack up and what needs to be improved.”
HOW TO WATCH
Who: South Carolina (24-20, 5-16 SEC) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (35-9, 15-6 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Founders Park
TV: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN on Friday and Sunday, then ESPNU on Saturday
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
