GRANVILLE, Ohio – Second-ranked Denison University's baseball team played its heart out down the stretch before ultimately falling 7-6 to Birmingham-Southern College in game two of the Granville Super Regional on Saturday afternoon at Big Red Field.

Denison, which made its furthest postseason advancement in program history, concludes its top season with a 42-8 record. The 42 wins are the most in single-season program history by three, while the 50 games are the most played in a season.

Senior first baseman Noah Leib would not be denied a final signature moment in the Big Red uniform. Leib doubled down the right field line with Denison down 7-4 and down to its last out. Senior right fielder Jake Welsch followed Leib's spark with a single to left field, and he moved up to scoring position on defensive indifference. Next, sophomore third baseman Cade Nowik placed a single into left field that scored Leib and pulled the Big Red within 7-5. Catcher Colin Raven was Denison's third senior to keep the game alive with a single up the middle that scored Welsch. The liner up the middle kicked off Birmingham-Southern (32-14) senior second baseman Andrew Dutton's glove, enabling Raven to get 90 feet from home. Birmingham- Southern sophomore left-hander Charlie Horn was able to get Denison senior shortstop Owen Wilson to ground out to shortstop for the final out of the game.

Senior left-hander George Viebrock was the glue for Denison, shutting down Birmingham-Southern over the sixth through eighth innings, which gave the Big Red a chance. A liner off the bat of Birmingham-Southern first-year third baseman Parker Ladd found its way into Nowick's glove, and the Big Red third baseman touched third for the inning-ending double play to get Denison out of the fifth inning. Viebrock needed just 27 pitches to set the Panthers down in order in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Junior left fielder Eric Colaco's speed made the retiring of the Panthers in order possible, as he ran down a deep fly ball in the alley in left, making the spectacular diving catch for the first out of the eighth inning.

Denison was within 5-4 in the eighth on junior center fielder Jake Blozy's RBI ground out. Prior to that, Wilson stole second and advanced to third on a Panther throwing error. That error was the difference in enabling Denison to score in the inning, as Birmingham-Southern first-year right-hander Jacob Fields recorded the final out of the inning on batter following Blozy.

Denison's comeback try started in the seventh inning. First-year designated hitter Jack Lutte laced a one-out single up the middle and scored when Leib parked a triple up against the fence in the right field alley. Welsch's infield single had Denison within 5-3.

Birmingham-Southern struck for three in the first, with two of the runs coming in on senior left fielder Jakob Zito's triple to right center. It was 5-1 in the fifth inning after junior catcher Shane Nelson knocked an RBI single into left center.

Senior right-hander Josh Leerssen improved to 10-2 after allowing three runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six. Zito was the big stick in Birmingham-Southern's lineup, evidenced by a 3-for-4 game with two RBI. Junior first baseman Jackson Webster influenced the game with a 2-for-4 game with three runs scored.

Denison was led by Leib and Nowick, who combined for six hits, three RBI, and two runs. First-year left-hander Peter Lemke took his first loss, running his record to 9-1. Lemke allowed three runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Of note, Denison set new single-season team records for average (.347, 625-for-1,801), at bats, hits, runs (488), doubles (137), triples (25), RBI (449), stolen bases (131), and on-base percentage (.444). On the mound, Denison's single-season records included most innings pitched (436) and most strikeouts (435), while in the field, putouts (1,308) and assists (493) are new single-season program bests.

Individually, Colaco's 212 at bats, 89 hits, 79 runs, and 28 doubles are new Denison single-season records. His 28 doubles are tied for the fourth-most in a season in Div. III history, while his runs are tied for the 13th-most. Colaco finished two hits shy of a top-25 single-season Div. III mark.