Everything Mark Kingston said after South Carolina's 15-13 loss
Following South Carolina’s 15-13 loss to Kentucky on Saturday, head coach Mark Kingston met with the media to break the game down. Here’s what he had to say.
Opening statement
“Another great game. Disappointed we didn’t win.”
On the pitching struggles in the game
“All you can do is battle and go to the next guy. That’s all you can really do is you give the next guy the opportunity. Eli and Matthew just weren’t their normal selves tonight for whatever reason. I thought the guys that came in after them did a pretty solid job. But it was just too much to overcome.”
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
On frustrations of blowing a 6-1 lead after the first inning with Eli Jones on the mound
“It can be frustrating but I told the team I was just as proud of them tonight as I was last night. It’s real easy to say how proud you are of a team after a win. But they played just as hard tonight. They had probably more great at-bats, more hits, more runs. I was just as proud of them tonight. We just fell short and we fell a few feet short because Gavin took a great at-bat there that could’ve easily been a walk-off. So sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”
On lineup changes
“Well, we had worked on that all week in case we needed to go to it because of an injury. But we’ve also done a lot of research on our success this year. And generally, when we score six runs, we win. I just wanted to go with what I thought would probably be our best offense. We scored 13 runs, so in that regard, we did what we were trying to do. I think it was a pretty good look for us. It felt like a lot of good at-bats consecutively. So it’s something we’ll continue to look at.”
On what he saw on Kentucky’s straight steal of home in the fourth inning
“It was a first and third play. We know they have some gadget plays like that, we’re prepared for them. We were going to arm fake. We knew the guy was going to steal in some form or fashion. But just got a little sped up there on the mound and the guy beat Matthew to the plate. It’s as simple as that.”
On Kennedy Jones’ at-bat where he struck out looking in the ninth inning
“I just saw the same thing you saw. I need to talk to him about why the at-bat went the way it did. He’s human, it just didn’t go his way. But I need to talk to him about that, see what he was seeing and make sure he can learn from it.”
On if Dylan Eskew will be starting on Sunday or if he will talk with Matt Williams to double check
“I want to talk with Matt just to make sure.”
On conversation with umpire after Blake Jackson HBP in the first inning
“Feels like it was yesterday and I barely remember it. If memory serves, I think they issued a warning to both teams, and I was very unhappy that we were part of the warning. I didn’t think it was fair that we would get a warning as well. We’re the ones that got hit by a pitch. I didn’t think it was fair that both teams should be issued a warning. He disagreed and we moved on.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
On what he said to Jackson after the HBP
“I mean, Blake is a competitor. He’s a football player going back to Texas. Generally in those situations, what I tell our players is if anybody gets thrown out, it’s me, not you. We don’t need you out of the game, we need you to help us win the game. So I’ll fight for you, I’ll be there, I’ll have your back. But if anybody gets thrown out, it’s me, not you. That’s always my message.”
On keeping Parker Marlatt out for the ninth inning
“Parker’s been one of our best guys statistically all year, and he had a really good eighth inning. We talked about this last night, the toughest decisions you make are do you try to get a few more outs out of a guy that looks really good, or do you pass the baton to the next guy? We decided with the way Parker looked and the way he’s pitched all year to get him out there. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.”
On if defensive alignment had anything to do with the outcome
“No. Zero, zero. I thought that all the plays that should be made were made for the most part. I didn’t think defensive alignment had anything to do with the runs we gave up.”
