Mark Kingston believes South Carolina got its swagger back

The South Carolina Gamecocks did not have the end to their baseball regular season that they would have liked to have. But in their Regional, the Gamecocks found their rhythm again, not dropping a single game and earning a trip to play a Super Regional.

In the Super Regional, South Carolina will face off against a familiar foe, their SEC East rival, the Florida Gators. As the Gamecocks prepare for their showdown against the Gators, head coach Mark Kingston addressed whether his squad got their swagger back.

“I would like to think so,” said Kingston. “And maybe we always had it, but you have to be a little more reserved when things aren’t going your way. You have to kind of tone it down because nobody wants to look like they’re having too much fun when you’re not winning. That’s just how you handle yourself in baseball. But yeah, I think the guys have had fun. And I’ve challenged them to have more fun than any team that’s still playing for the rest of the season. Because the teams are having fun and are loose, tend to play better and come through in the end.”

Before entering the SEC tournament, the Gamecocks lost five of their six series, including their last one against Tennessee. And in the SEC tournament, things didn’t get much better for the Gamecocks. South Carolina won their opening game against Georgia 9-0 but lost their next two games to LSU, 10-3, and Texas A&M, 5-0, eliminating them from the tournament. But all that is in the past, and South Carolina has found itself getting hot at the right moment. And that could lead to a trip to Omaha in the following week.

Kingston’s South Carolina squad definitely played loose and comfortable during their Regional, beating all three teams at least once. South Carolina crushed Central Connecticut State 19-1 out of the gate. In their second game against NC State, the Wolfpack would give the Gamecocks their closest game, falling to them 6-3. In South Carolina’s final game against Campbell to head to the next phase of the tournament, their offense exploded again for double-digit runs, winning that game 16-7.

The Gamecocks will try to keep the party and the wins going in their Super Regional. Game 1 of South Carolina’s series against Florida is set for Friday, June 9. The first pitch will be at 6 p.m. EDT.