South Carolina revisits Fort Jackson amid skid to 'rekindle' emotions, camaraderie

When South Carolina was in the midst of building its camaraderie this offseason, Fort Jackson was an integral piece. 

The Gamecocks went multiple times during fall scrimmages, working together through the obstacle courses and military-style training to come together as a team. 

So, with South Carolina in a bit of a tailspin right now, Mark Kingston took his group back there this week before heading out to Arkansas. 

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“This team has stayed together. We revisited fort jackson together yesterday to rekindle all those emotions and camaraderie. I thought it was a great day for us and the guys were awesome,” he said. “This is a team that sticks together through thick and thin. I think there will be a payoff when all is said and done.” 

South Carolina attributed a ton of the early part of the season to those trips to Fort Jackson and the team-building that went on there. 

The Gamecocks honored the troops there with an Army helmet as a home run celebration and wear camo hats during Tuesday midweek games.

So it was only right when they needed to re-center after a tough stretch to go back to the place that helped them so much.

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“Fort Jackson has been a main part of building team chemistry…It brings us closer together as a team. It’s definitely important this part of the season with this rough patch we’re going through right now,” Michael Braswell said.

“It was important we make sure we still have the team chemistry we had at the beginning of the season that made us one of the top three teams in the country. Yesterday, it definitely helped us and meant a lot.” 

And South Carolina needs something to go right for them now and hopes going back will kickstart some of it. 

The Gamecocks are now 2-6 in their last eight games after starting 34-6, sitting at 14-9 in the SEC with two regular season series left. 

They’ve watched a surefire national seed resume start to falter some, still projected to host but needing a strong finish to hold onto it. 

Injuries have played a part in some of that, and South Carolina feels confident once fully healthy it can get back to the team that was ranked as high as No. 2 in some polls and No. 1 in the RPI. 

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“They’ve done a great job sticking together. Within this building, we’re doing everything we can to stay positive and stay together. There are going to be frustrations. If there’s not some frustration then you’re not competitors. 

The morale in this building remains very good. This is a team that knows who they are and knows what they’re capable of. We all know what we’re going through right now and what it’s causing,” Kingston said.

“But we still have a lot of confidence the team that has been one of the best teams in the country still resides in this building and it’s a matter of getting back on track. We all feel like and know we will.”

First pitch at Arkansas is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night with Eli Jones on the mound.

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“From our perspective, we’re going to give it our best whoever’s out in the field or pitching. We’re not out there trying to lose games,” Braswell said. “Our goal is to keep working hard, stay true to the process and keep going. The results will follow. That’s what we were doing in the beginning of the season and we’re not going to change it cause we lost six games.” 

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