Birmingham, Ala. - Rhodes College baseball led No. 22 ranked Birmingham-Southern 3-2 after six innings before the Panthers scored the game-winner in the seventh on their way to a 6-3 SAA Tournament Championship.

It was a must-win for the Lynx who suffered an 11-4 loss in game one of the conference championship series. Rhodes took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after a leadoff single from Jacob Telli got things rolling. Two walks, and a sacrifice bunt later, the Lynx loaded the bases for Ryan Palermo who singled in Telli and Brady John. BSC took advantage of a hit by pitch, walk, and a balk after a single scored a runner from second to tie the game in the top of the third. 

After three quiet innings, back-to-back singles put Rhodes into scoring position in the sixth inning when Wood Kimbrough tallied an RBI fielder's choice to give Rhodes a 3-2 edge. The Lynx stranded Kimbrough at third before BSC tied the game in the top of the seventh on three hits and a stolen base. A Panther solo home run in the eighth gave BSC a 4-3 lead before the hosts took advantage of Lynx errors to score two runs in the top of the ninth. A double play and strikeout ended the game as the Panthers picked up their third conference tournament title. Rhodes won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 tournament championships.

BSC totaled 10 hits in the game, compared to Rhodes' five. John and Kimbrough earned the only walks while Palermo recorded two RBI and John scored twice. Starting pitcher Trey Sledge allowed three runs and five hits in 6.1 innings of work. Alex Garrett suffered the loss after the game-winning home run. For BSC, John Michael Shirley struck out six Lynx in seven innings to pick up the win. 

At the conclusion of the tournament, Wood Kimbrough and Jacob Telli were named to the 2019 SAA All-Tournament team.

The Lynx do still have a chance for an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Tournament, announced on NCAA.com on May 13 at noon ET.