Birmingham-South baseball advances to the DIII College World Series as school closes

The Birmingham-Southern baseball team will play in the Division III College World Series beginning May 31. But when the Panthers take the field in Eastlake, Ohio, they will represent a school that by then will no longer exist as an institution.

Birmingham-Southern College – a private liberal arts college with 1,300 students in Birmingham, Alabama – will close on May 31 due to financial difficulties. The school, founded in 1856, had fought for nearly two years to restore its endowment. But legislation for a $30 million loan failed to pass in the Alabama State House. As a result, the college decided to close in March.

Still, the Panthers baseball team will advance after defeating Denison in a best-of-three super regional series to advance to the DIII College World Series. Birmingham-Southern won Friday’s game 10-1, and followed it up with a 7-6 win Saturday morning.

Coach Jan Weisberg says playing baseball – and continuing to play in the postseason – has helped his players cope with the situation their school is facing.

“Just with all the emotions that we’ve been dealing with, to not have that one on our back like, ‘God, this could be the last game in this dugout,'” Weisberg told Kennington Smith III of The Athletic . “It was a release, and I think they played with that.”

Since learning the school would close, the Panthers have gone 18-4. Before that, the team had a 13-10 record, losing nine of its past ten games.

“[Coach Weisberg] said, “There’s only one thing we can focus on right now,” pitcher Hansen McCown told ESPN. ‘We’re just going to focus on ourselves. We’re going to do things together. We will continue to play baseball.”

Weisberg also promised to help his players find teams at new schools. Many have found new programs, while others are still developing such arrangements. Some will also stop playing after this season and 10 players will graduate.

As the Birmingham-Southern College athletics account posted on X (formerly Twitter): “The campus may be closing, but the story remains to be written.”

Birmingham-Southern last played in the DIII College World Series in 2019, advancing to the finals before ultimately losing to Chapman University.