BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Sophomore Jack Mercer tossed a complete game, allowing one run on seven hits to go with six strikeouts as the Rhodes College baseball team evened up the SAA Championship Series with a 3-1 over Birmingham-Southern. The win forces a decisive third game tomorrow at 11 AM.

Mercer was on his game from the very first pitch he threw as he has now only allowed four runs in his last 32.0 innings pitched. 

Neither team could get much of anything going throughout the first three innings as zeros lit up the scoreboard. In the bottom of the fourth, the Lynx plated two runs to go on top. After a leadoff double by junior Bill Munson, junior Bennett Notestine put down a perfect bunt for a hit as an error by the BSC infield brought home Munson for the game's first run.

Four batter later, two runners were on for freshman Will Hunt, who chopped a dribbler to short to plate another run. The Lynx struck again in the sixth as sophomore Levi Greenberg flied a deep ball to center to score Notestine and move ahead 3-0.

Mercer continued his dominant work on the mound, shrugging off potential big innings from the Panthers in the seventh and eighth. BSC got one run back in the seventh, but could do no more against the hard throwing righty from Houston, Texas.

Despite a lead off single in the top of the ninth, Mercer got the next two batters to end the game and force tomorrow's winner-take-all contest, as he moves to 6-3 on the year. More importantly, Mercer, like Daniel Morris earlier in the day, went the distance to save the entire bullpen for tomorrow's game.

Notestine finished 3-for-3 on the day with two runs scored while Greenberg went 1-for-2 with a RBI. Munson was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored while junior Ryan Olive and freshman Ben Siegel each had a hit.

The two teams will meet at Striplin Field tomorrow at 11 AM to see who will claim the SAA Championship. The winner of the series earns the conferences' automatic bid to the NCAA Regional. Rhodes is looking to win its second consecutive SAA Championship and move on to the third straight NCAA Regional.