Everything Mark Kingston said after South Carolina's run-rule win over Winthrop
Following South Carolina’s 15-3 win over Winthrop on Tuesday, head coach Mark Kingston met with the media to discuss the game. Here’s what he had to say.
On the bullpen performance tonight
“I liked the effort of everything I saw tonight. The bullpen, obviously offensively, we were outstanding again today, and our defense was really top notch. So just a complete game from us on the road in our last midweek game of the year. That was great to see.”
On what going 12-1 in midweek games says about this team
“We’ve had years where Tuesday nights and midweek games were an absolute battle. And we dominated the midweek games this year, 12-1 — hard to beat that. We did it convincingly on most Tuesday’s. I think that speaks to the talent, the depth and the ability of our guys to stay focused in non-weekend games.”
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
On what he saw from Kennedy Jones’ five-RBI night
“He took good swings tonight. He swung at good pitches for the most part. At the end of the day, that’s what hitting is. You take your best swing and you make sure you swing at the right pitches. He chased a little bit this weekend, tonight he did a much better job of staying in the strike zone.”
On school being over and how that helps the guys settle in
“Well, it seems like they’re having some fun tonight, so I think they’re pretty relaxed, they’re pretty motivated right now. They’re having a lot of fun. That’s the vibe you want at this time of the year. You want to feel like you’re getting stronger and gaining momentum as the season is starting to get later.”
On how big tonight’s performance was with what’s still ahead
“Every game’s important, you’ve got to stack as many as you can. When all is said and done and they’re deciding who goes where for the NCAA Tournament, you want to have the best resume you can. So these games are important, but it’s also important that our guys are playing at a very high level. Offensively obviously, we’ve turned a corner.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
On why it’s important to keep playing these midweek games against bad RPI teams
“I think if you schedule a game, we’re going to play the game — it’s that simple. I can’t speak on other schools, every school has the right to do what they think is best for them. But if we schedule a game, especially here in-state, we’re going to play it.”
