Rudy on the Record, June 17

The University of South Carolina's amazing run of NCAA success reached 22 games with Saturday night's 7-3 victory over top-ranked Florida.

And the margin of victory could have been a lot larger. The Gamecocks were just 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position.

Gators starter Brian Johnson had dominated the Gamecocks in an SEC Tournament game May 25 pitching a five-hit complete game.

Saturday night was totally different. USC missed several golden opportunities early and fell behind in the third inning, 2-0, when freshman left fielder Tanner English started in on Preston Tucker's fly ball only to have the ball sail over English's head. The mistake overshadowed two sterling defensive plays earlier in the inning.

Pitcher Michael Roth - all he does is win - made a diving catch of a bunt attempt with two runners on and none out. Then, second baseman Chase Vergason channeled his inner Scott Wingo with a dandy stop of a grounder up the middle and a flip to Joey Pankake for a forceout at second.

After four innings of walking  a tightrope on the mound, Johnson fell off in the fifth. A bases-loaded triple by designated hitter Erik Payne and a double by LB Dantzler - neither cheap - were the big blows.

Center fielder Evan Marzilli continues to dazzle defensively. He had a leaping catch of Daniel Pigott's shot into the left-center gap to open the eighth inning. The score was 5-3 at the time. If Marzilli had not made the play, Pigott would have been at least on second, perhaps third, with none out. Instead the catch helped closer Matt Price work a 1-2-3 inning.

Marzilli ranked the catch among his best ever - and he's made a bunch of good ones. It reminded me of the response  Tanner made earlier this year when asked to compare Marzilli's defense with that of former star and fan favorite Jackie Bradley Jr., also a standout defender in center. "If you had twins, would you love one more than the other?," he said.

Good defense at critical times has been cornerstone of USC's success in past years, and that has continued this year. Pankake overcame a bad stretch in the opening weeks of the season to be spectacular at shortstop. It seemed many of his errors came on what appeared to be routine plays. After a handful of games out of the lineup, Pankake has turned his defense around. He's now making the spectacular plays look routine as he gains confidence and experience.

Freshman catcher Grayson Greiner, out since suffering a knee injury in practice prior to the NCAA Regional, came in as a pinch-hitter for Dante Rosenberg in the third inning and struck out.

Greiner looked rusty at the plate - and coach Ray Tanner said he should have - but had a good at-bat in the ninth before working a walk. Greiner fouled off several pitches. Each swing against live pitching likely worked a little more of the rust off.

Tanner also said he was pleased that Greiner was able to catch without incident.

There have been a couple of weak spots in the USC batting order almost all season. The .272 team batting average is the lowest for a Gamecocks team since 1995. Part of that can be attributed to the new bat standards that have affected offenses nationwide.

Yet, Tanner has been able to pull strings and, very often, get the intended results. For instance, Payne has had some rough moments as DH, but he delivered the key triple Saturday.

Also, Pankake and Vergason, in particular, have shown improvement offensivelyPrice pitched the final two innings for his 42nd career save, breaking a tie with Georgia's Joshua Fields to become the SEC's career leader by himself.

The staff earned-run average of 3.06 is second only to the 2.45 mark of 2011 when the last 32 years are studied.

Other than Price's 85 strikeouts in 72 innings, there are no real dazzling individual numbers on the staff.

As has been the case in recent years, Tanner has settled on a handful of pitchers he has confidence in using during crucial situations and they have justified his confidence.

The veteran coach has mixed and matched his players based on perfomance and hunches.

USC hasn't had injuries to the extent last season's team did, but Rosenberg's outstanding defensive play in Greiner's absence has exemplified the attitude the Gamecocks have taken during adversity:

"Win anyway."

This team may be less reliant on its "stars"  and more dependent on players just fulfilling their roles - whatever it may be - than the previous two teams, both of which won NCAA titles.

More often than not this season, six of the nine batting spots have been filled by players in their first year in the program. A case could be made that Tanner and his staff have done a better coaching job this year than in either of the two national championship seasons.

That the Gamecocks were a preseason top 10 team in most polls is a tribute both to the players' talent level and  the pollsters' respect of Tanner's ability to develop players as the season goes along.

There's still a lot of work to be done before South Carolina can claim a third consecutive College World Series title. More performances like Saturday's will bring the Gamecocks closer to getting the job done.

I didn't expect the Gamecocks to get this far. It appears that the players want to go even farther.

Don't put it past them.