BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Leopards shouldered their first loss of the NCAA Regional Tournament today in a 10-inning bout with the Panthers of Birmingham Southern College, who took the game 12-11.

The first three innings went scoreless for the Leopards, while the Pioneers scored in each, and put the Leopards in an 0-7 deficit going into the bottom of the 4th. Maintaining their season reputation, the Leopards' slow burn kicked into high gear. After Logan Reese was hit by a pitch that brought Malachi Francois over the plate for their first run of the game, Ryan Vosika's at-bat caused a Panther error by the third baseman that allowed Nathan Perry to score. Logan Reese then scored on a wild pitch, before Anthony Salcedo finished the inning by bringing home Vosika. The score going into the 5th was 7-5 Panthers. That's when the Leopard bats went to work.

Nathan Perry's double to left center brought home Garcia, and then Reese singled to left field to score Perry. Matthew Diaz tripled down the fight field line to bring home Reese, and just like that, the Leopards took the lead, 8-7.

The 6th inning brought two more Leopard runs, one unearned, and another RBI single up the middle for Perry. The Leopards had their eye on the prize going into the 9th, with a Leopard score of 10-7. But the Panthers had other ideas.

Birmingham Southern lit up the field with two homeruns in the 9th that tied the game 10-10, forcing extra innings. Another homer in the 10th gave the Panthers the lead, 12-10.

The bottom of the 10th found the bases loaded for the Leopards, with only one out. In a wild turn of events, Chase Siffert was out thrown out at 2nd, Diaz scored, and Salcedo was picked off at home to end the game. The final score was 12-11, Birmingham Southern.

Since this was the first loss for the Leopards in the double elimination NCAA Regional, the Leopards will face the Panthers one more time in a winner-takes-all match up. Game time is slated for 3:30pm PST.

(photo by Joseph Ceniceros)