Mark Kingston satisfied with ‘grit’ of South Carolina despite skid

The final three weeks of the regular season for Mark Kingston’s South Carolina club probably couldn’t have been much worse as they dropped three straight series and won just two of 11 games. The losses dropped them down from No. 3 in the country to outside the top 10.

It started with a three-game set against Kentucky the first weekend of the month. The Wildcats swept the series in Lexington, Ky. Then the Gamecocks fell in a mid-week non-conference matchup to North Florida.

Arkansas took two out of three versus South Carolina the next weekend before another mid-week defeat to Charlotte. Tennessee then won the final series of the regular season this weekend, snagging two victories over the Gamecocks in South Carolina.

Momentum is such a critical part of the postseason and having such a stretch heading into the SEC Tournament this week and then the NCAA Tournament next weekend is not ideal at all.

But Kingston said last week he thinks South Carolina can get back to where it was at the beginning of May.

“The grit has not left — I will tell you that,” Kingston said ahead of the final regular season series against Tennessee. “The fact that guys are playing it not 100% is grit personified. We’re playing with grit. We’re just not playing as well as we did the first 45 games of the year, because we’re not at full capacity. That’s just the bottom line. But this team hasn’t given up by any stretch. They play hard. They have grit. They’re doing everything they can. Just right now, we’re limited and we’re just having to fight our ass off to compete. If we get back to full capacity, I think we go right back to being one of the best teams in the country. I’m 100% confident of that.”

2023 SEC Baseball Tournament Schedule

*All times in CT

Tuesday, May 23

Game 1: No. 11 Georgia vs. No. 6 South Carolina — SEC Network — 9:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 10 Texas A&M vs. No. 7 Tennessee — SEC Network — After Game 1
Game 3: No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 8 Kentucky — SEC Network — 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 12 Missouri vs. No. 5 Auburn — SEC Network –After Game 3

Wednesday, May 24

Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 3 LSU — SEC Network — 9:30 a.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 2 Arkansas — SEC Network — After Game 5
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 1 Florida — SEC Network — 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt — SEC Network — After Game 7

Thursday, May 25

Game 9: Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5 — SEC Network — 9:30 a.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7 — SEC Network — After Game 9
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 5 — SEC Network — 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 7 — SEC Network — After Game 11

Friday, May 26

Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9 — SEC Network — 3 p.m.
Game 14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 10 — SEC Network — After Game 13

Saturday, May 27

Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 11 — SEC Network — Noon
Game 16: Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 12 — SEC Network — After Game 15

Sunday, May 28

Championship Game — ESPN2 — 2 p.m.

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