Everything Mark Kingston said after South Carolina's 2-1 loss to Arkansas
Following a 2-1 loss to Arkansas, South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston met with the media on Friday. Here’s what he had to say.
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Opening statement
“Great ballgame. Elite pitching and defense on both sides. Disappointed we were one run short, but we fought til the bitter end and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
On starting Austin Brinling in centerfield
“Thought he did a nice job, he did exactly what we were hoping. He got on base, he got the hit, made a nice defensive play in the outfield. He’s a contact hitter and a team that maybe needs another contact hitter in the lineup. So I thought he played well and he’ll play again tomorrow.”
On Roman Kimball’s outing and what happened when Kingston/trainer made mound visit
“Yeah, it was a little bit of a fluky thumb issue. Wasn’t an arm issue, wasn’t a shoulder issue. Something was wrong with his thumb where it just kind of went numb and he couldn’t really hold the ball. So that’s why we took him out of there. He just couldn’t hold the ball and he’s throwing 92 miles an hour. That’s not a good recipe. So he came out, Ty Good came in and did a nice job. Thought all our pitchers did a great job tonight.”
On what Arkansas left-hander Hagen Smith did so well to keep the offense in check
“Well, his average fastball was 98. He threw a slider for strikes all night. And that’s why he’s going to be the first pitcher off the board for the major league draft. He’s done that to everybody this year and we were no different. And we didn’t get help in some other areas as well. He made it really tough on us tonight.”
On offensive performance
“Well look, both teams had four hits tonight. That was elite pitching, elite defense. And again, other factors made it really tough for hitters to hit tonight. It’s a 2-1 ballgame, both teams had four hits. Again, it was an elite game with two really good teams going at it and they had the one more run that they got. We walked two guys in that inning and they ended up scoring and that was a difference in the ballgame. But all our pitchers I thought pitched great tonight.”
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On outings from Parker Marlatt and Jake McCoy
“The two freshmen came in there in high leverage and didn’t give up a run. I mean, that’s exactly what you’re looking for. I thought Marlatt did exactly what he’s been doing all year. And when we can match him up on righties, that’s him in his best situation. McCoy came in to get the lefties and I thought had great stuff tonight. Every time he’s gone out there, he’s gotten better and that kid has a very bright future.”
On his ejection in the eighth inning
“No comment I guess is the best thing I can tell you. I don’t want to repeat what I said to him. Obviously, I wasn’t happy. He has the right to reject me if he doesn’t like what I said. But I thought it was the right time to fight for our team based on what I was seeing and that’s what I did and he has the right to reject me.”
On Brinling not tagging up on a fly ball in the game
“Off the bat, I thought it was going to be a ball that he probably would tag on. But then watching the throw come in, that guy’s got a really good arm. I thought he probably made the right decision there because that ball got in quick and it got ahead of where he would have been, so I think it would have been very risky at that point in the ballgame. So I think he made the right decision.”
On bringing Chris Veach in the game when he did
“Ty has always been able to, for us, get out of jams. But at that point, it just felt like alright, let’s get one more hitter. But then it was okay, it’s 2-0, it just felt like the time. Matt (Williams) felt like it was time to give Chris the chance to get out of that. He got that hitter out and went from there.”
On Will Tippett’s status after getting hit in the head by a pitch
“We’ll find out tomorrow morning if he’s ready to go. If he’s not, (Lee) Ellis will be in there. But we’re obviously hoping he’s going to be in there because he’s playing great baseball.”
