COLLIERVILLE, Tenn.—After falling to second-seeded Berry in extra innings, 4-3, the No. 6 Birmingham-Southern softball team rebounded this evening with a 5-3 defeat of Rhodes and will play for the 2016 Southern Athletic Association title tomorrow.

The Panthers, who now stand at 36-7, will face Berry again tomorrow at noon, and must defeat the Vikings twice to win the championship.

BSC VS. BERRY

• The Vikings led 3-0 after five-and-a-half innings, and the Panthers cut it to 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double from junior Maddie Ridgway.
• In the bottom of the seventh, junior Torrie Garner hit a two-run homer over the left-center field fence to tie things up and send the game to extra innings.
• Berry added one run in the top of the eighth, and then retired three straight Panther batters in the bottom of the frame to clinch the victory.
• Five different Panthers recorded single hits; Berry out-hit BSC 8-5.
• Freshman Leah White started in the circle and went five innings, striking out four batters.
• Freshman Haley Crumpton (8-3) came in for the final three innings and took the loss.

BSC VS. RHODES

• After falling into the elimination bracket, the Panthers were faced with playing the late game on Saturday and facing sixth-seeded Rhodes.
• The Lynx scored three runs in the first two innings, and BSC cut it to 3-2 in the top of the third on a sac-fly by freshman Savannah Lee and an RBI double from sophomore Micaela Beck.
• In the top of the fourth, a sac-fly from freshman Kendall Hamm tied things up at 3-3, and the tie stood until the top of the sixth.
• Garner scored on a Rhodes error to put BSC up 4-3, and then Hamm scored on a wild pitch to put the top-seeded Panthers up 5-3.
• Crumpton (9-3) then retired six of the next seven Rhodes batters to get the win, giving up three hits with six strikeouts in six innings of work.
• BSC out-hit Rhodes 8-2, led by junior Alex Skene who was 2-of-2 and Garner who was 2-of-3.

UP NEXT

• The top-seeded Panthers must defeat second-seeded Berry twice tomorrow to win the conference crown, with the first game beginning at noon.