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Mark Kingston 'incredibly proud' of team dealing with 'gauntlet' stretch

On3 imageby:Collyn Taylor•03/28/22•

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South Carolina shortstop Braylen Wimmer celebrates while scoring a run
Braylen Wimmer (Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina’s coaching staff and players respectfully referred to the last month as the gauntlet.

That would be four series, three of which against top-five teams at the time and another against the Gamecocks’ arch-rival, with five of the 12 games away from home.

Not did the caliber of opponents make it an obstacle course of a month. But the Gamecocks’ pitching staff was decimated by injury and left the group reeling entering the Clemson series.

But, the Gamecocks emerged from it splitting the four series with two home series wins over top-five opponents. 

“We kept calling it the gauntlet. Between the injuries and the schedule, I had never seen anything like it in 34 years of being in college or pro baseball, Kingston said. “Obviously, a lot more challenges ahead of us but for where this team is and what they’ve gone through I’m incredibly proud of them.”

After being outscored 18-6 by Clemson, the Gamecocks ultimately took two games from then top-ranked Texas before being swept by Tennessee, now the No. 1 team in the country. They responded back with a series win over Vanderbilt, outscoring the Commodores 16-8 the final two games.

The performances could have been better and more consistent across the span of four weeks, but perspective is important.

All four teams rank in the top 35 nationally in team ERA. Three teams—Texas (7), Tennessee (1), Vanderbilt (3)—are in the top 10.

“I mean that’s been the message for the past couple of weeks: keep battling, keep getting after it,” Braylen Wimmer said. “Some things don’t go your way sometimes and sometimes they do. That’s baseball. We understand that. Obviously, some people don’t.”

South Carolina’s proven when it gets enough offense it can buoy a thin and young pitching staff still rounding into form.

The challenges aren’t over, but the Gamecocks certainly saw enough to feel good about things moving forward.

“Inside our program, we understand there will be rough patches and there will be high points. That’s baseball,” Wimmer said. “We’ll stick together as a team.”

South Carolina has had a few freshmen step up, most notably Matthew Becker, Cade Austin and Aidan Hunter on the pitching side of things.

All three—freshmen from South Carolina—pitched in the series-clinching win Saturday against Vanderbilt. Hunter and Austin came back from short rest to pitch a combined 4.1 innings of one-run baseball.

South Carolina hasn’t passed the test yet, though. The next problem is Missouri this weekend with three series (Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida) and a midweek game (North Carolina) left against ranked opponents.

“Obviously the future’s bright for us,” Austin said. “We do a great job going out there and competing. Nobody’s scared to be out there. I think it’s awesome.”

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