Birmingham-Southern Eliminated from D-III World Series; School Closed on May 31

The magical postseason run by the Birmingham-Southern baseball team was destined to end in heartbreak, but it was even more gut-wrenching than expected.

The Panthers suffered an 11-10 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday in an elimination game in the Division III College World Series. The loss comes after the university shut down this past Friday due to financial troubles.

"I don't feel sadness right now and I mean it," head coach Jay Weisberg, who took over Birmingham-Southern's program in 2007 said, via the Associated Press. "The ride that these guys have given me this year has been absolutely incredible. Coaching is what I love, and these guys have made it so fun."

The Panthers held a 10-5 lead through six innings, but their bats went cold as things fell apart. Wisconsin-Whitewater scored two runs in the seventh, three in the eighth and got a leadoff walk-off homer from Sam Paden in the ninth.

Birmingham-Southern announced it was closing in March. In the wake of the announcement, Weisberg encouraged his players to play freely, and they did just that. Weisberg delivered an emotional response when asked what he hoped the final message of Birmingham-Southern would be.

"What a beautiful place it is ... was," he said during an emotional moment. After composing himself, he continued:

"I know a lot of people have pride in their schools, and they should," he said. "We aren't different than many. But it's such a beautiful place, physically. We have the best sunsets in the world. The message about Birmingham-Southern is that it changed lives. It was a place where people came as young men and women and left as mature men and women. What this nation has seen over these last three weeks and the joy that we brought is exactly what this program is -- it's toughness, it's championship baseball, great young men. I love it that the final chapter for Birmingham-Southern could have gone off into the sunset and not many people besides graduates or the Birmingham community would know about it. But now the nation knows there were some pretty special things that happened here."

After the loss, the Birmingham-Southern players stood along the third base line and tipped their caps to fans in attendance. They then walked off the field in small groups, hand in hand.