Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) is set to close permanently on Friday while, on the same day, the Panthers baseball team will open play in the Division III World Series in Eastlake, Ohio.
Over the weekend, the Panthers clinched a trip to the World Series by sweeping its super regional series with Denison University despite a plethora of players getting hit with food poisoning that sent two to the hospital.
With the financially distressed institution shutting down, a GoFundMe was set up to cover the expenses for travel and championship rings. The fundraiser has already surpassed its goal of $100,000 and pledges to give any money left over to the coaching staff.
"Keep the train moving!" the GoFundMe, set up by the Hulse Patio Social Club, which calls itself "the Official Twitter of the BSC Baseball BBQ Team," states. "Help support Birmingham-Southern baseball in its historic final season! BSC is steps away from the College World Series. All funds will be used for travel expenses and championship rings. Any remaining funds will go to BSC baseball staff to help in their next steps. Yeah, Panthers! Forward, ever. Always. Let’s win the whole damn thing!"
In a Tuesday interview on Birmingham WJOX's "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning," Panthers head coach Jan Weisberg praised his team's "togetherness" amid uncertain times.
"I've never seen a group so close, I'll be honest with you," Wiesberg outlined. "I know that may sound like coach speak, but in the day and age of NIL and transfer portal, we're having a subpar season at 13-10, you know, tell them their school is closing, they've got no place to go. I mean, in this day and age, they're either going to limp to the finish, they're going to kind of quit on the team, they're going to immediately think about where am I going to go, and none of these guys have done that. Not one... And I think that's a pretty damn cool thing."
The World Series opens on May 31 and runs through June 6.
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