COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gamecocks Head Baseball Coach Mark Kingston has been fired following a run in Columbia that included some post season appearances but no trips to college baseball's largest stage in Omaha.
Gamecocks Athletics Director Ray Tanner announced the news Monday morning, a day after the Gamecocks' season ended with a loss in the NCAA Regional to James Madison. Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Monte Lee will be the interim head coach, but Tanner did not say if a search was underway for a permanent head coach.
Kingston was hired in 2017 taking over to Chad Holbrook and went 217-155 overall but with a losing record in SEC play at 83-96. During his run, USC went to the postseason four times, including two trips to the Super Regionals, which is essentially the Sweet Sixteen of college baseball. However, the team never got to the College World Series in Omaha, where the final eight teams left standing each year play for the national title. It's a lofty perch that Gamecocks fans got used to under Tanner, especially in his run from 2010-2012 where they reached the championship game in three straight seasons and won two titles.
Kingston did lead the team to two third place finishes in the SEC East.
In this most recent season, USC finished 37-25 overall and spent much of the year in the Top 25, but was only 13-17 against SEC competition. At one point they were ranked as high at #7 RPI and ended the regular season at 21.
The Gamecocks have been to 11 College World Series in program history and have advanced passed the regional stage 19 times.