Mark Kingston evaluates biggest strength of Florida baseball

After dominating and sweeping their Regional, the South Carolina Gamecocks earned a trip to the Super Regional. The Gamecocks took care of business on their home field, knocking off Central Connecticut State, Campbell, and NC State.

Up next with South Carolina is a rematch against a familiar SEC East rival, the Florida Gators. And as the two teams prepare to face off over the weekend, Gamecocks skipper Mark Kingston gave his thoughts on their foe’s roster, highlighting some of their strengths in the process.

“Well, they have three first-rounders in their weekend rotation,” said Kingston. “They have a potential first pick overall in (Wyatt) Langford. (Jac) Caglianone will be a very high first-round pick as a hitter or a pitcher next year.

“They’re just extremely talented. When you’re in the state of Florida like they are, and you’re the only SEC team, you’re going to get the best players in the state of Florida. And we know Florida is one of the top talent-producing states in the country. So they’re always going to be very ultra-talented.”

South Carolina is hoping that things in this series against Florida go precisely as they did when the two teams squared off in Columbia, SC, in late April. The Gamecocks defended their home field, sweeping the Gators in the three-game series. South Carolina was able to score runs consistently, averaging over eight runs a game. And at the same time held the Florida offense in check, allowing just 3.3 runs per game.

Kingston believes South Carolina got its swagger back

Kingston also talked a little bit about his South Carolina squads and addressed whether his Gamecocks have 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.”

Kingston’s South Carolina squad definitely played loose and comfortable during their Regional round, 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 in the regional, falling to them 6-3. In South Carolina’s final game against Campbell to punch their ticket to their Super Regional, their offense exploded again for double-digit runs, winning that game 16-7.