Birmingham-Southern keeps inspiring, magical season alive with walk-off win at D-3 World Series
EASTLAKE, Ohio — The team with no school won’t quit.
Birmingham-Southern is still swinging.
Now playing despite the school being closed for good, the Panthers kept their hopes of winning a national championship alive on Saturday night with a thrilling 9-7 comeback victory over Randolph-Macon in the Division III World Series.
Jackson Webster hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth inning to give Birmingham-Southern, a team that has quickly captured the attention of sports fans across the country with their feel-good story, a win bordering on surreal.
“Baseball miracle, right?” Webster said. “The storybook isn’t finished.”
The Panthers squandered a 4-0 lead and fell behind 7-4 before scoring three runs in the eighth — getting back-to-back RBI singles by pinch-hitters in the rally — to tie it.
Then came the ninth and a moment seemingly extracted from a Hollywood script or Disney movie.
Andrew Dutton walked leading off before Webster, who hit a two-run homer in the first, took an ugly swing on the first pitch. It was so bad and out of character that he stepped out of the batter’s box and tapped his chest while apologizing to coach Jan Weisberg.
Webster didn’t miss the next pitch.
Connecting on a hanging curve ball, he sent his homer over the wall in left field to set off a wild celebration on the field and in the stands of Classic Park.
As he rounded third and was greeted at the plate by his delirious teammates, a rowdy group of Sigma Chi fraternity brothers from the school who had kept the faith when things looked bleak danced in the aisles.
It was another memorable moment in a season full of them for Birmingham-Southern and a team bonded by adversity.
Birmingham-Southern officially closed its doors for the first time since 1856 due to financial hardship.