Mercer advances in conference softball tournament

Mercer needed extra innings, but made the most of the chance and dumped Furman 5-2 Wednesday in the opening round of the Southern Conference softball tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mercer, seeded seventh, will play third-seeded Chattanooga at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Bears improved to 22-33 this season, and 4-2 in conference tournament play the past two seasons.

Mercer received the jolt it needed when Meghan Rud led off the eighth with a triple to left. She scored the go-ahead run two at-bats later on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Rodgers.

The Bears poured it on after that, as Quirisa Mauga and Shaila Warren singled, and were driven in by Maxine Rodriguez’s two-run double.

Megan Bilgri of Mercer and Lindsey Bert of Furman both went the distance. Bilgri struck out four, tying a season high.

Taylor Miller and Natalie Shiver both extended their current hitting streaks to 17 and seven games, respectively.

Telegraph Staff

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Mercer advances in conference softball tournament."