MACON, Ga. – A big fourth inning from Mercer was enough to lift the Bears to a 13-7 win over the Jacksonville State softball team on Sunday in the championship game of the Mercer Invitational.
 
The Gamecocks (4-1) rallied from a four-point deficit early to claim a 6-4 lead, but a seven-run inning for the Bears (4-1) gave the home team the lead for good.
 
JSU junior Cadi Oliver went 3-for-3 and reached base all four times to cap an impressive opening weekend. The Sumiton, Ala., native went 8-for-14 (.571) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI to garner All-Tournament honors. Senior Sara Borders and freshman Whitney Gillespie were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
After Mercer scored two runs in the first and two more in the second, the Gamecocks started cutting into the lead. An Oliver leadoff double set up an RBI single by Gillespie and an RBI double from Ella Denes that cut Mercer's lead in half.
 
Freshman Emily Woodruff delivered a three-run homer to cap the five-run second and give the Gamecocks their first lead of the game. The center fielder from Albertville, Ala., drove the ball over the wall in left center for her first career homer.
 
JSU got an unearned run in the third to stretch its lead to 6-4, but the top of the fourth did the Gamecocks in. Mercer scored seven runs on five hits, an error, a walk and three hit batters to claim control of the game. The Bears would add insurance runs in the fifth and in the seventh to finish the scoring.
 
Junior Casey Akenberger (0-1) suffered the loss in the circle for JSU after allowing five runs on eight hits in three innings of work. She walked one and hit two batters. Riley Carter (1-0) earned the win for Mercer after holding JSU scoreless on two hits over five innings of relief work. She struck out seven and walked three.
 
Meghan Rud went 3-for-4 for the Bears, while Natalie Shiver drove in three runs.
 
The Gamecocks will return to action on Friday in the North Florida Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. JSU will open play against Virginia Tech at 9 a.m. CT and will then take on Maine at 11:15 a.m. CT.