Mark Kingston on 2-0 start in SEC Tournament: 'We fought all year'

South Carolina entered the SEC Tournament as a No. 10 seed with just 13 conference wins to their name, coming off of two consecutive series sweeps before taking center stage in Hoover, Alabama for the start of postseason play.

The Gamecocks have since put together two impressive wins to start off the conference tournament, defeating No. 7 seed Alabama in a 10-5 win followed by a gritty 6-5 victory over an Arkansas team ranked No. 5 in the country and No. 2 in the SEC.

The adversity South Carolina faced during the regular season has paid off early in the SEC Tournament, and following their most recent win, Gamecocks head coach Mark Kingston spoke on the character of his team.

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“Well Joe, we fought all year,” Kingston said. “Again, I think sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking if a team’s losing they’re not fighting and if they’re winning they are. Nothing can be further from the truth with this team. This team has played hard from day one, and whether you win or lose, that’s not how you define how these kids are fighting.”

South Carolina was outscored 39-21 in a series to Georgia followed by suffering another series sweep to the nation and the conference’s top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers ahead of the SEC Tournament. Losses that Kingston believes speak more to the level of competition within the conference versus the identity of the Gamecocks.

“These kids have played hard all year. I know every coach that comes in here will say the same thing, it’s a damn hard league and you’re going to lose some games and this is a strong-willed team,” Kingston said. “They’ve never showed up to the park where I thought oh, they’re not ready to play today. This team plays hard.”

“We had a couple tough weekends against two teams that will be national seeds, it happens, and we just keep the train moving.”

The Gamecocks got the train back on track against the Crimson Tide to start off the conference tournament. Hitting three of their four home runs on the day in an electric third inning where they scored six runs. Also getting it done on the round by shutting out Alabama in the last five innings of the game to help protect and extend their lead.

Things would get a little bit more challenging in their Wednesday game versus Arkansas, entering the ninth inning tied at 4-4 before catcher Cole Messina blasted a two-run homer to give the Gamecocks the lead and advance them to the winner’s bracket.

South Carolina will look to keep their momentum going on Thursday as they’ll take on No. 11-seeded LSU in a matchup featuring two of the hottest sleeper teams in the SEC Tournament.