The University of South Carolina baseball team entered the season ranked No. 24 in the nation, but have since climbed to No. 15 after being in and out of the top 25 rankings.

They sit at 29-14 (11-10 SEC) entering this week after a series win over No. 4 Kentucky.

The Gamecocks have 11 games until the end of the regular season and will look to improve their conference record to achieve their goal of hosting an NCAA Super Regional, a best-of-three series in which the winner advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

“The great majority of teams that get to Omaha hosted their Super Regional,” Kingston said during a preseason press conference. “If you want to give yourself the best chance to get to Omaha, you need to host not only the Regional but the Super Regional.”

Last year, the Gamecocks hosted and won their regional tournament before going to Gainesville, Fla. and losing to the Florida Gators, the eventual runners-up in the College World Series.

“In my time here, we were on the verge of going to Omaha twice, but we had to go on the road to two teams that ended up playing for the national championship,” Kingston said.

Coming into the season, the Gamecocks were highly rated for their offensive prowess, with some questions revolving around their pitching staff. As of April 29, the Gamecocks have a combined .269 average, .468 slugging percentage and .886 OPS. They have hit 63 home runs, with two players in double digits for their personal home run totals.

The Gamecocks pitching staff, however, has not been as convincing, with Ty Good being the only pitcher with below a 3.00 ERA. As a team, the Gamecocks have an average 4.52 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and a .237 batting average against.

Before the season started, catcher Cole Messina was confident in his pitching staff, citing their work ethic.

“I see a group of guys that work extremely hard every day who can really help us,” Messina said.

South Carolina boasts a 21-7 record at Founders Park but are 6-6 as the road team and 2-1 at neutral sites.

South Carolina was 17-3 before starting SEC play, with two of those losses coming in a two-game sweep against Clemson where the game at Founders Park was rained out.

To begin SEC play, the then-No. 20 Gamecocks went on the road to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. The team lost the first two games of the series before winning the final game. The Gamecocks then returned home and took on USC Upstate in a 14-8 win.

The Gamecocks kept their momentum going into their next series, a three-game set against then-No. 3 Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks swept the Commodores and were bumped to No. 18 at the end of the weekend.

“We’ve been sticking to our approach,” outfielder Kennedy Jones said following the sweep over Vanderbilt. “Now it’s starting to finally click and everything’s coming together for us.”

The success did not last long as South Carolina followed that up with a series loss to then-No. 18 Alabama, where they again lost the first two games and won the final one. This slid the Gamecocks down to No. 22 in the rankings.

The slide continued as the Gamecocks followed this series up with a midweek loss to Georgia Southern and a home series loss to then-No. 3 Texas A&M. This 1-3 week culminated in the Gamecocks being left out of the Top 25 rankings.

“It’s a long season, there will be ups, there will be downs,” Kingston said after the rough week. “I compare it to a long flight across the country. There will be turbulence at some point, but it doesn’t mean that you jump out of the plane. You have to be able to endure it.”

The Gamecocks bounced back the next week with a 2-1 neutral site win in Charlotte over then-No. 13 North Carolina, and an away series win over then-No. 24 Florida. The team was 3-1 that week against ranked opponents, which was enough to get the Gamecocks back in the rankings at No. 20.

South Carolina’s inconsistencies returned after that, going 2-2 the next week, with an away midweek win over The Citadel and a home series loss to then-No. 2 Arkansas. But the team stayed ranked, sitting at No. 24.

“We’re close, but with these top-five teams we’re playing, we got to keep working to get over that little hump so that we’re a top-five team,” Kingston said.

The Gamecocks most recently picked up a series win against No. 4 Kentucky at home. The team won the first game in extra innings, lost the middle game and run-ruled the Wildcats in seven innings in the third. This series win propelled the Gamecocks up nine spots to No. 15 in the rankings entering this week.

“I just thought this was one of our best weekends of the year,” Kingston said.

However, numerous opponents and tournaments stand in the way before USC has a chance at hosting a Super Regional.

South Carolina still has two midweek games: one was against East Tennessee State scheduled for May 1 after the Chronicle’s press deadline. The last will be an away game against Winthrop.

The Gamecocks conference series matchups remaining are Missouri, No. 19 Georgia and No. 3 Tennessee.

The Gamecocks also have to play through the SEC Tournament, and host and win their Regional Tournament to have a chance at hosting a Super Regional.

The SEC tournament begins May 21 and the NCAA tournament will follow, starting on May 31.