When Mark Kingston was asked to make an opening statement at his first regular season news conference, he knew what he wanted to say.
"Yeah, my opening statement is 'Let's Play Ball'," Kingston said.
"I think everybody is ready for that. Players, coaches, fans, alumni - everyone's ready to play ball. So we're ready to do that."
After being hired in late June, Kingston has been able to get a feel for just how passionate USC fans are about what goes on at Founders Park. He has had a complete fall practice and with preseason now in the books, Kingston says his expectations for this weekend will be the same down the road.
"Just want to see quality baseball," Kingston said.
:"At the end of the day, winning happens as the result of playing quality baseball. I want to see that everything we've worked on for the last seven months, I want to see that in practicein a game setting with an opponent ... in the other dugout. I just want to see that we're going to play hard, that we're going to be an intelligent team, I want to see us take quality at-bats. I want to see our pitchers attack the strike zone. The same things I'll be looking for this weekend is what I'd look for in Omaha - the things that win games. It's all those things we work on a daily basis. Whether it's game one or game 70 in Omaha, you're looking for quality baseball - the right effort, the right preparation. That will start (Friday)."