Audio By Carbonatix
Birmingham-Southern College is two wins away from reaching the Division III college baseball World Series even though the school itself will no longer exist in a matter of days. It is the ultimate Cinderella story that will pick up in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament this coming weekend.
The Panthers will have the entire nation behind them!
Birmingham-Southern, a private liberal arts college in Alabama that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, was founded in 1856. The campus sits on 192 wooded acres located three miles west of downtown Birmingham. It has 45 academic, residential, administrative, and athletics buildings/facilities.
None of them will be in operation come the first of June.
The school has suffered from financial troubles over the last few decades due to both errors in accounting and dwindling enrollment. Birmingham-Southern explored every option to keep the school open, and even sought assistance from state legislature, but it just wasn’t enough. The Board of Trustees voted to close the college.
Birmingham-Southern will cease to exist as of 11:59:59 p.m. on May 31, 2024. However, its baseball team might keep the college alive for a little bit longer!
Birmingham-Southern baseball is on fire.
The Panthers won 26 games in the Southern Athletic Conference to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. They were placed in the Lexington, Ky. Regional as the No. 3 seed.
Spalding University was the No. 1 seed. Transylvania University was the No. 2 seed.
Birmingham-Southern stomped the latter 21-7 in the first round of the double elimination regional on Friday behind TWO grand slams from first baseman Jackson Webster. It then defeated the host team 4-2 on Saturday and earned a birth in the regional final.
Transylvania beat Spalding to set up a rematch. Birmingham-Southern won 5-2!
Meanwhile, back in Alabama, the college’s athletic department sold all of its merchandise and equipment for cheap. There is no use for any of it because the school is going to close in less than two weeks!
Birmingham-Southern baseball is the exception. It will play the University of Wisconsin La Crosse in a Super Regional this weekend.
If the Panthers can win two of three games, they will play in the D3 college baseball World Series. The eight-team double elimination bracket will commence on May 31— the day that Birmingham-Southern will close.