EASTLAKE, Ohio (NewsNation) — Baseball players at Alabama’s Birmingham-Southern College are set to make their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division III World Series on Friday — the same day their school is set to close its doors after 168 years.

No institution? No problem: The team is backed by thousands of fans.

Coach Jan Weisberg told “Morning in America” last week that the possibility of Birmingham-Southern closing had been hanging over the team’s head for two years. Players didn’t lose hope for this baseball season, though. 

“I think we’ve always thought that we could do it,” senior outfielder Ian Hancock said. “We’ve been close plenty of times, just fallen a little short.”

College announces school closure

Birmingham-Southern College’s Board of Trustees announced in March that the school would close effective May 31, after legislation aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan stalled in the Alabama Legislature. Still, the baseball team was able to win 17 of its final 21 games, giving it an at-large NCAA regional berth.

Knowing it was their last season as a team, the Panthers kicked things into high gear.

“I want this team to be remembered as being the team that because they got this national attention, showed everybody just what Birmingham-Southern and the college is all about,” Weisberg said.

Panthers clinch College World Series appearance

The Panthers sealed their improbable run to the World Series over the weekend as they swept the heavily favored Denison University in the Super Regional matchup.

“To come from having a very mediocre season to being one of the last eight teams left in the country is unbelievable,” second baseman Andrew Dutton said. “It just shows that, like I said, we’re playing for each other, we’re playing to finish strong.”

However, the win did not come without setbacks. Nearly one-third of the team got sick with food poisoning, even sending several players to the hospital.

Regardless, the team is gearing up to compete Friday with thousands of fans behind them. They have received over $100,000 in donations through a GoFundMe page, which gave the team the ability to charter a plane to Ohio for the game.

The No. 7 seed Panthers will take on the No. 2 seed Salve Regina Seahawks at 4:45 p.m. ET Friday. It’s also expected the team will have fans from all over the country there to cheer them on throughout the weekend.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.