This past weekend, Rhodes Softball was at Birmingham-Southern College playing in the Birmingham pod of the SAA championship tournament. This tournament was a double elimination bracket, so Rhodes advanced to play BSC in the second round of the winner's bracket.
The Panthers started hot, and the Lynx bats started slow. The Panthers were up 4-0 before the Lynx got any runs on the board. The first Lynx runs were in the bottom of the first when Harper Allee-Press singled up the middle to score Savannah Russell and Jasmyn Stanley, bringing the score to 4-2. BSC found more runs in the top of the 7th, where two single RBIs and a groundout advanced to make the score 7-2.
This loss moved the Lynx to the loser's bracket, where they were set to take on BSC again. The Lynx found a new spark in this game, as they were one game away from elimination. Rhodes scored 4 runs right off the bat in the top of the 1st, with scores from Savannah Russell, Quinn Thompson, Harper Allee-Press, and Kate Ledlie. Millsaps answered with two runs, but Rhodes scored again in the top of the 2nd to make the score 5-2.
In the top of the 4th, Savannah Russell and Jasmyn Stanley scored on Kate Ledlie, reaching first on a fielding error. Later in the inning, Quinn Thompson scored when Madison Bromley reached 1st on a wild pitch. The Lynx were now up 8-2. Savannah Russell scored again in the top of the 5th to make the score 9-2. The Lynx put the nail in the coffin at the top of the 7th when Quinn Thompson and Harper Allee-Press singles sent Jasmyn Stanley and Savannah Russell to score. Later in the inning, Madison Granberry tripled to right field to score Quinn Thompson. Millsaps scored 3 more runs in the bottom of the 7th, but it wouldn't be enough to make it a game, as the Lynx walked away with a 13-5 victory.
With the Lynx now being 2-1 in the tournament, they advanced to the finals of the Birmingham pod, where they faced BSC for a spot in the SAA championship game, where the winner would face the winner of the Mount Berry pod.
Rhodes started the game well, as Madison Granberry singled to score Quinn Thompson, and Harper Allee-Press scored on a wild pitch. Birmingham tied it up in the bottom of the first, 2-2. Talia Travis scored again in the top of the second, but BSC tied it up once again.
The next score came in the 4th when BSC scored off of a groundout. The next score wouldn't come until the top of the 7th when the Lynx tied it up by Harper Allee-Press reaching on a fielder's choice to score Savannah Russell.
With the game tied in the top of the 8th, the Lynx were not able to score. BSC, however, at the bottom of the 8th, scored one run from a single up the middle, scoring 5-4 and defeating the Lynx.
Rhodes Softball finished the season ranked #3 in the SAA.
