Birmingham-Southern hits walk-off home run to win D III World Series elimination game

EASTLAKE, Ohio. (WBRC) - WHAT. A. GAME! The Panthers run continues! Birmingham-Southern defeated Randolph-Macon Saturday afternoon with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th in Eastlake, Ohio to stay alive in the Division III College World Series.

The Panthers got started quickly in the game after two home runs in the bottom of the 1st inning from Jackson Webs and Charlie Bank.

Andrew Dutto reached 1st base after an error made by the Yellow Jackets shortstop. After the error, BSC capitalized with a two-run shot to left center field by Webs. After an Ian Hancock flyout, Charlie Bank expanded on BSC’s lead with a home-run of his own to left center field.

After a quiet 2nd inning from both sides, the Panthers entered the bottom of the 3rd looking to expand their lead. The first two BSC batters went down quickly before Ian Hancock reached base on a second throwing error of the day by the Yellow Jackets. Charlie Bank stepped up big at the plate again, this time with a double to left center field bringing in Hancock from 1st base and expanding the Panthers lead to 4-0.

After neither side put a run on the board in the 4th inning, the Yellow Jackets tacked their first two on the board in the top of the 5th inning. A double from Grayson Bush followed by an Eli Brooks triple to drive in Bush got the Panthers their first run of the day. Then, with Brooks on 3rd, a Jordan Hill single knocked in Bush for their second run of the inning.

In the top of the 7th inning, Matt Myers reached base after being hit by a pitch before stealing 2nd to get the Yellow Jackets into scoring position. With Myers on 2nd, Grayson Bush became the second Yellow Jacket to be hit by a pitch in the inning to put runners on 1st and 2nd. With one out in the inning, Myers stole 3rd base before a Jon Quici single to score Myers and advance Bush to 3rd. Carter Schmitt then singled to drive in Bush and tie the game 4-4.

The Panthers were unable to put anything on the board in the bottom of the 7th as the two teams headed into the final two frames all knotted up 4-4.

The Yellow Jackets began the top of the 8th with a Myles Webb single before a Chaz Harvey sac bunt to advance Webb to 2nd. Webb then advanced to 3rd base after a wild pitch, and a Matt Myers single that was ripped up the middle drove in Webb from 3rd.

With Myers now on 1st with just one out, the Panthers called on Jacob Fields from the bullpen to replace Hansen McCow. Grayson Bush singled down the right field line to advance Myers to 3rd who would score on a wild pitch two batters later. The Yellow Jackets would then add another run on a second wild pitch to take a 7-4 lead in the top of the 8th. After back to back walks, the Panthers went to the bullpen and called upon Charlie Horn.

Horn was able to get ahead in the count on Carter Schmitt before he lined out to 2nd base to end the top half of the 8th inning.

Down three to begin the bottom of the 8th, the Panthers got their first runner on with one out after a single from Ian Hancock. Charlie Bank then ripped a single through the left side to give the Panthers runners at 1st and 2nd. Jakob Zito then stepped up to the plate for the Panthers and ripped a triple over the center fielder’s head, scoring both Hancock and Bank.

With one out and a runner on 3rd, the Panthers attempted a squeeze bunt to try and get Zito home from 3rd, but the Yellow Jackets were able to get Zito out at the plate. With Ty Truett now on 1st, and Grant Morgan in to pinch hit, the Panthers were looking to get Truett home from 1st to tie up the game. With two outs in the inning, Truett reached 2nd on a stolen base before a Morgan single to left field drove him in to tie the game 7-7.

The Yellow Jackets then went to the bullpen before a Parker Ladd single to give the Panthers runners on 1st and 2nd. However, at the next at bat with a 3-2 count, a called strike three on Eli Steadman ended the Panthers run in the 8th inning.

In the top of the 9th, the Panthers allowed just one runner to reach base before tallying the 3rd out of the inning to head to the bottom of the 9th, looking to walk it off.

Andrew Dutto took a walk to begin the 9th inning before Jackson Webs stepped up to bat. If you remember, Webs hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, and well..... HE DID IT AGAIN! A walk-off HOME RUN from Jackson Webs over the left field wall gives Birmingham-Southern a 9-7 win over Randolph-Macon in an elimination game in the D III World Series.

The Panthers will play their next game Sunday, June 2 at 2 p.m. central time. The opponent is still TBD. For the full Division III College World Series bracket, click here.

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