Gamecocks starting on next year's team 'as soon as we get off the plane'

South Carolina’s huddle broke after Monday’s loss, effectively ending this year’s season and marking the beginning of the 2019 year.

So when the Gamecocks touch back down in Columbia Tuesday afternoon, they’ll be ready to work, ready to get back to the same spot as last year but next time get over the hump.

"(It starts) As soon as we get off the plane,” Jacob Olson said.

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The Gamecocks got one win away from Omaha and the College World Series, the closest the team had been since losing a winner-take-all game in 2013 against North Carolina.

It’s a plateau that’s been tough to reach with the last trip coming in 2012 as part of three-straight trips to Omaha.

But the players, and head coach Mark Kingston, aren’t shying away from the challenge. They’re embracing it and will start the process of trying to get there as quickly as possible.

“We know what the standard is. We have a lot to replace, no doubt about it. That process will begin very, very soon,” Kingston said. “This is where we want to get to every year to have this opportunity to get to Omaha. Every year that we put the uniform on that will be the goal.”

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A school-record 10 players were drafted this year and will choose over the coming weeks on if they’ll go pro or come back to school for the 2019 season.

For those that will be coming back, like Olson, Kingston thinks they got the best kind of motivation possible: seeing another team celebrating a College World Series berth in front of them.

“You can be motivated by what you want to accomplish, and then you can be motivated by being disappointed that somebody else got to have that celebration in front of you,” he said. “There are a lot of things that athletes get motivated by, and that will be one of them.”

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Halfway through the year, the Gamecocks looked dead to rights sitting at 20-17 and coming off a loss to Presbyterian at home.

That was the turning point as they put their foot down to win their last five SEC series and blaze through their regional.

They had a flair for the dramatic, making it a habit to use late offense to win a handful of games down the stretch and in turn finding an identity that they hope carries over into next season.

“We learned what Gamecock baseball is all about: fighting for each other and loving each other,” Olson said. “That's what it is about and that's what we are going to keep doing.”