Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Birmingham-Southern College is no longer a school, with the private liberal arts college officially closing operations on May 31. While the school might no longer be, its baseball players are creating a storybook ending in the Division III College World Series.
Located in Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham-Southern was founded in 1918. Formerly known as Southern University (1856), the private school announced earlier this year that it would cease operations after the Board of Trusted unanimously voted to close the college after the 2024 academic year.
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As their peers either graduated this past month as part of Birmingham-Southern’s final graduating class or trying to figure out where they would continue to pursue a degree, Panthers’ baseball players were in the midst of a story that even scriptwriters in Hollywood would deem too far-fetched.
The Panthers’ baseball team qualified for the Divison III College World Series in late May thanks to an unbelievable run to close out their final regular season as a team. Birmingham-Southern earned the No. 6 seed in the DIII World Series bracket, drawing a first-round matchup against the No.2-seed Salve Regina (38-8).
Unfortunately, the team suffered a 7-5 loss in the first round to Salve Reginw which put their final season on the line Saturday against Randolph-Macon. In a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the 9th inning of an elimination game, junior first baseman Jackson Webster stepped into the batter’s box for potentially his final at-bat and came through with a moment that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
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What makes this story even more incredible is what it specifically took for the Panthers’ to reach this point. During the NCAA Regional, the team was struck by a form of virus, which hospitalized multiple players and forced others to play with IVs.
“The Birmingham-Southern baseball team had multiple players hospitalized, taking IV, drugs, fluids. They thought at first it was food poisoning, it ended up being some sort of norovirus that kinda made its way through the team. The entire bullpen is being affected by this virus, they weren’t clear if they were going to be able to pitch or not.”
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura on the Birmingham-Southern baseball team’s illness during Super regionals
On the ESPN Daily podcasted hosted by Clinton Yates, staff writer Kyle Bonagura provided details on Birmingham Southern’s story and what led to Birmingham-Southern College shutting down.
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Birmingham-Southern College had an endowment of approximately $122 million heading into 2007, as reported by ESPN. Around that time, then-president Dr. David Pollick used the endowment to cover the costs of many of his projects for the school, ranging from a new football stadium for a team just added that year, a welcome center, new residence halls and a manmade lake.
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By the time Pollick resigned, the school’s endowment had shrunk to $53 million and despite years of fundraising efforts to try and save the school, declining enrollment, a lack of aid from the state government and the lost endowment funds forced the school to vote to shut down.
Students who are just a few credits short of graduating are being allowed to complete those credits this summer and the NCAA is covering the costs of the Panthers’ baseball team playing in the DIII College World Series. Once the Panthers’ season ends, though, that will be the final out for Birmingham-Southern as a baseball team and college.