There’s still a lot of work to do to survive and advance, but the Vicksburg Gators at least showed they won’t go away quietly.

John Plummer went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, Michael Rohrer drove in three runs and earned a save on the mound, and the Gators evened their Class 5A play-in round series with Saltillo with an 8-7 victory Friday.

The decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three series is today at 2 p.m. at Bazinsky Field. The winner advances to face Germantown in a first-round series beginning Thursday.

“I believe we stole the momentum back. They had a really big crowd and their coach is retiring, so if he wins he gets another home game. It’ll be some pressure on them, playing for him,” Vicksburg coach Ryan Grey said. “They have to make that 4 1/2-hour trip mulling over a loss and missing a chance to close it out, too.”

The Gators scored twice in the first inning, then four more times in the second to take a 6-2 lead in Game 2.

Rohrer drove in two runs with a single in the first inning, and Plummer had a two-run single in the second.

“That’s what we needed after getting beat like we did yesterday,” said Grey, whose team lost 10-3 in Game 1. “It gives your guys confidence that you can beat them. That’s the key in elimination games, is to score early, and we did that.”

Vicksburg has made a habit of giving up big innings lately, and nearly gave away its lead as the game wore on. Saltillo scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth — two scored on an errant throw to first on a potential inning-ending ground ball — to get within 8-7.

VHS reliever Sean East escaped that jam, however, and worked in and out of trouble again in the sixth. Saltillo put two runners on base before East induced a double play grounder to end the inning.

Rohrer took the hill in the seventh and gave up a two-out walk and a hit batter to put the winning run on base. He got the last hitter to ground back to the mound, though, and the Gators escaped with the win.

Rohrer suffered a groin injury Monday against Northwest Rankin, but has played in both games against Saltillo. Grey said he was impressed with the way his shortstop and relief pitcher has played through pain.

“He gutted it out. That’s the type of warrior he is. I asked him before the seventh if he wanted the ball, and he said, ‘Give it to me,’” Grey said. “He’s not 100 percent. You can tell when he’s running down the line. But when you have that bulldog mentality, a nagging little injury isn’t going to stop you.”