COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina baseball coach Chad Holbrook promised an offseason like no other so the Gamecocks would not endure another season like this one.
South Carolina, which three years ago played for a third-straight national championship, missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years. A team that started 17-3 after sweeping Kentucky to start Southeastern Conference play went 15-22 to finish at 32-25 and in the very unfamiliar spot: outside the national tournament.
"We're going to work tirelessly to ensure that when I'm sitting up here next year at this time, we're getting ready to play a big NCAA Tournament game and not wrapping up our season," he said. "That's going to be our focus and determination as we move forward."
Holbrook said he's spent the past week or so since South Carolina was knocked out of SEC Tournament play by Missouri searching for reasons why things went so wrong. He took responsibility for the team failures and said he, his coaches and players would carry a sense of urgency to improve into the summer and fall to prepare for next spring.
Holbrook said this year's team lacked the toughness or fiery personalities that marked South Carolina's College World Series titles in 2010 and 2011, and its run to the CWS final series in 2012. Holbrook was the top assistant to coach Ray Tanner and filled Tanner's office a few weeks after that last Omaha trip when Tanner became athletic director at South Carolina.
The biggest issue for South Carolina was at the plate, where it hit .257 for its worst batting average in 42 years. Holbrook acknowledged he may have helped that demise by switching out players and not letting them get comfortable to try and find their swings.
"Maybe I moved guys around a little too much earlier in the year and they didn't get quite comfortable and in a consistent rhythm of playing," he said.
Holbrook said to expect different faces on the field next season. One-time starters in shortstop Jordan Gore and catcher Logan Koch have said they're leaving the team. Ace Jack Wynkoop, who led the Gamecocks with eight victories on the mound, likely played himself into a high Major League Baseball draft pick and is not expected back, while top hitter Kyle Martin exhausted his eligibility this season.
Holbrook said he is up to the challenge of turning things back around.
"I'm not going to overhaul who I am because we had a tough stretch this year because I've been a lot more successful than I've been unsuccessful," he said.