Spartanburg S.C. – Mercer's Hannah Rivers drove in eight runs, including a walk-off grand slam, to lead the fifth-seeded Bears to an 11-7 victory over eighth-seeded Furman in the opening game of the Southern Conference Softball Championship Wednesday morning at Hope Field on the Wofford College campus.
 
The Bears (32-23) advance to face No. 4 seed Wofford in the double elimination portion of the tournament at 4 p.m. on Wednesday while the Paladins conclude their season at 15-38.
 
With Furman trailing 7-3 entering the seventh inning, Grayson Snead ignited a Paladin rally with a leadoff double and moved to third base on Ansley's Chiang's base hit to right field. Both runners scored when Caitlin Goldwait followed with a two-run double down the left field line. Kiley Perry's double over the head of the rightfielder chased home pinch runner Jordynn Lawrence and brought the Paladins within a run with one out. Rachel Hawkins' single put runner on the corners and Kate Stoltzfus lined out to first base before Perry raced home on a passed ball to knot the game at 7-7.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Parris Wiggs dropped a leadoff single down the right field line and moved to third when Tori Hedgecock's grounder was fielded by Hawkins at third base but thrown into right field as she attempted to erase the lead runner at second base. Grace Jones reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases and Rivers sent Mercer into this afternoon's matchup versus Wofford with a grand slam to left field.
 
Rivers, the Bears' second baseman, went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two homers, and a sacrifice bunt to go with her eight runs batted in. Wiggs and Jones each collected three hits and scored three runs apiece for the Bears, who totaled 11 hits for the game.
 
Reliever Grace Taylor (3-2) picked up the victory for Mercer despite surrendering four runs on six hits in three innings of work. Furman's Emme Buzhardt (6-15) absorbed the loss in her finale collegiate game. She gave up five runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of relief.
 
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mercer evened the score with a three-run rally as Wiggs and Grace Jones singled to set the table for Rivers' three-run blast over the right-centerfield fence. The Bears took the lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Hallie Langford and Wiggs reached base on back-to-back singles. After Furman starter Angelina Ricciardi walked Hedgecock to load the bases, Jones greeted Buzhardt with a single up the middle. Two runs scored on the two-out hit and another scored on an errant throw back to the infield. Rivers followed with an RBI double into the gap to up the Mercer advantage to 7-3.
 
Furman broke on top in the top of the third inning when Ansley Chiang reached base on a two-out error and Sylvia Burroughs follow with a two-run homer to left-centerfield. In the top of the fourth inning, Katie Peeler worked a walk and advanced to third base with a stolen base and wild pitch. Sydney McGuirk, making just her second start of the year, increased the Paladin lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
Goldwait went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI in her final collegiate appearance while Perry also collected three hits in her final game as a Paladin.