BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The #12 ranked Birmingham-Southern baseball team started the 2024 season with a 4-2 win on Friday against (RV) Millikin in the BSC Spring Classic.

How it happened
The game was hitless after the first two innings with Millikin breaking the deadlock on a single in the top of the third. The Big Blue were then still held scoreless after Josh Leerssen recorded his second strikeout of the game. In the bottom of the third, senior Andrew Dutton got the Panthers on the board with a solo home run to right field on the team's first hit of the night. Leerssen threw two more shutout innings while adding two more strikeouts to his resume. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Eli Steadman doubled followed by a Jackson Webster walk and Ian Hancock hit by pitch to set up a bases loaded opportunity with two outs. Jakob Zito then hit a hard ground ball through the left side to score two more runs for BSC giving them a 3-0 lead. Both teams failed to score in the sixth inning, but Millikin eventually got on the board in the top of the seventh on a two-run double. The Panthers did not extend their lead until the bottom of the eighth when Mitch Austin found the empty space in shallow center field to bring home Jakob Zito. Charlie Horne relieved Josh Leerssen and gave up no earned runs in three innings to earn the save as BSC went on to win Opening Day, 4-2. 

Records
#12 Birmingham-Southern 1-0, (RV) Millikin 0-1

Up Next
The Panthers will be back home tomorrow for a double-header against #5 ETBU and #6 Lynchburg at 2:15 and 5:30.