Mark Kingston will be back as South Carolina baseball coach, report says

South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston isn’t going wherever, in keeping with a nationwide report Friday night time.

D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers, citing sources, reported that Kingston could be again in Columbia in 2023 for a sixth season with the Gamecocks.

South Carolina has made the NCAA match twice throughout Kingston’s tenure and simply completed with their first dropping season since 1996, prompting chatter of whether or not or not USC directors would make a training change.

He obtained a contract extension after final season.

“Kingston has three years left on his contract, which runs by means of the 2025 season. Along with the numerous damage points this season, #Gamecocks would’ve owed Kingston some huge cash for a buyout this quickly,” Rogers posted to Twitter.

Per Kingston’s contract, the Gamecocks would owe him a $2.2 million buyout in the event that they selected to dismiss him earlier than June 30. Kingston makes roughly $600,000 per season.

South Carolina already paid former coaches Will Muschamp and Frank Martin virtually $16 million mixed in buyout cash.

The Gamecocks (27-28, 13-17 SEC) failed to achieve the NCAA match in Kingston’s fifth 12 months on the helm. Kingston has a 138–109 report at USC. The dropping season was the staff’s first since 1996 — that was June Raines’ last 12 months as head coach and simply earlier than present athletic director Ray Tanner took over this system.

On the time of Kingston’s contract extension after the 2021 season, Tanner — who gained two Faculty World Sequence titles as USC’s coach — stated that Kingston had constructed “a profitable program” however wanted to take the following step and attain the postseason with extra regularity.

“Ideally, you need to be within the postseason, be enjoying at residence on the finish of the 12 months,” Tanner stated. “And we had an excellent discuss that. That’s what this program is accustomed to through the years, and we’d prefer to have that regularly.”

USC misplaced to Florida 2-1 on Tuesday on the SEC match, capping a irritating season that was outlined by accidents and inconsistency.

Accidents on the pitching workers had been particularly crippling. Weekend starters Julian Bosnic and James Hicks had been each misplaced for the 12 months early within the season as a consequence of elbow accidents, and the Gamecocks additionally misplaced a major bullpen piece in right-hander Wesley Sweatt, amongst different arms.

“We’re all disenchanted,” Kingston stated in Hoover after the extra-inning loss to Florida. “However the phrase ‘context’ is what issues most. While you think about you had 10 pitchers all through the course of the season that pitched both very, little or no or in no way, and what sort of influence they’d have on our won-loss report.

“… It handcuffed us — it simply did. And there are days I lookup and say, ‘Man, how did we win that many?’ And there are days that you simply lookup and also you say, ‘Man, if we had this man or that man, simply two or three of the ten, it’s a very completely different season. ‘ ”

USC had its fair proportion of offensive struggles all through the season, too, rating final within the SEC in staff batting common (.266), slugging proportion (.413) and second-to-last in runs scored (313). A part of these struggles had been as a consequence of a younger lineup that at occasions began 4 freshmen.

South Carolina had its huge moments — together with early-season sequence wins over Vanderbilt and Texas — however USC additionally dropped midweek video games to the likes of The Citadel, Presbyterian and USC Upstate.

The Gamecocks have missed NCAA regional play twice in head coach Kingston’s 5 years of the helm, not together with a 2020 season that was shortened as a consequence of COVID-19. The Gamecocks made a brilliant regional in Kingston’s first 12 months in 2018, then went 28-28 and missed the playoffs in Yr 2.

Final season, the Gamecocks hosted an NCAA regional as a No. 2 seed however had been unable to advance to the regional finals.

— The State’s Dwayne McLemore contributed

Mark Kingston at South Carolina

Remaining report and postseason end

▪ 2018: 37-26 (misplaced on the street in NCAA tremendous regional)

▪ 2019: 28-28 (missed postseason)

▪ 2020: 12-4 (COVID canceled season)

▪ 2021: 34-23 (misplaced in NCAA regional USC hosted as a 2 seed)

▪ 2022: 27-28 (missed postseason)

Whole report: 138–109 (.559)

Mark Kingston wage, contract buyout

Kingston makes roughly $600,000 per season at South Carolina.

▪ $2.2 million if dismissed earlier than June 30, 2022;

▪ $1.4 million if dismissed between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023;

▪ $800,000 if dismissed between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024;

▪ $400,000 if dismissed between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.

This story was initially printed Could 27, 2022 9:41 PM.