Kingston's pregame message pays off
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL
When Logan Davidson made his comments about Clemson baseball having a better culture than South Carolina’s, it was hard for Gamecock players to not see it.
They did, and chose to not pay much attention to it heading into this weekend, especially into Sunday’s rubber match.
What they did latch onto was Mark Kingston’s pregame message and, after the 14-3 drubbing at Founders Park, it looks like it paid off.
“It was great to see what this team is capable of,” Kingston said. “I told the guys before the game today that they had an opportunity. I said I looked at every game on the schedule all day today and this is the place that everybody in America would want to be playing: on this field, in this stadium, this is the game every college baseball player would want to be playing in. We had a tremendous opportunity and they rose to the occasion.”
Also see: Latest team scoop, insider notes on recruits this spring
Rise to the occasion they did.
The Gamecocks (9-2) belted four home runs Sunday and had a season-high 17 hits as they easily dispatched a Clemson team that was ranked in the top 25 heading into the weekend.
Kingston’s message resonated with a lot of players, especially some of the new guys that haven’t experienced this kind of rivalry before.
One of those newcomers, junior college transfer Luke Berryhill, delivered with three hits—two homers—and five RBI.
“I think it really fired everybody up. It’s the truth,” he said of Kingston’s message. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It’s been like home to me ever since I got here. I feel like most the other guys feel the same way. Everyone was fired up to win the game after that.”
Also see: Big defensive back recaps visit to Gamecocks' practice
Another junior college player in Reid Morgan was able to take Kingston’s pregame speech and run with it, controlling his emotions and spinning a 6.2 inning outing where he gave up just three runs.
Morgan looked emotional on the mound and was extra fired up heading into his series-deciding start Sunday and it paid off.
He struck out five batters, including Bryce Teodosio to end the second inning and stared him down all the way back to the dugout.
“He fouled off a pitch and ended up running down to first base and casually walked back. It kind of fired me up seeing he walked back and took his time to get in the box. I stared him down the entire way until he got in the box. Then once I struck him out that was the time I got fired up and looked at him the whole way back to the dugout. It was fun to do that.”
Also see: Full analysis from the park Saturday
But it wasn’t all out-of-state players making an impact.
TJ Hopkins belted a bomb Sunday, three for the weekend, and had four RBI today. The lifelong Gamecock fan hit .467 in the series and had nine RBI.
His best friend, high school teammate and now college teammate Sawyer Bridges also got a chance to close out the game, pitching a perfect ninth inning to secure the series win over the Tigers.
“It’s important to those kids from Summerville. That’s why we had Sawyer Bridges close out that game, Kingston said. “We know how important this is to him. I wanted Sawyer to get that last out today. That’s really important that those guys can share in that. They’re very proud to be Gamecocks. They gave up a lot to be Gamecocks. TJ came back for his senior year. When it means that much to those guys, you want to put them in situations they can really enjoy.”