Crazy. Memorable. Heartbreaking.

All words that can be used to describe Birdball's first game back in an NCAA Regional after a seven-year drought.

After taking the field and having John West fire the first pitch against Troy at 3:08, the game ultimately lasted just over six hours thanks to a near-three hour rain delay. Unfortunately for the Eagles and their fans, this one will be memorable for all the wrong reasons as the Trojans won a slugfest, 11-10.

BC (35-19) led 4-3 in the fifth before a five-run seventh for Troy. Eventually, the Eagles found themselves down one with the tying and winning runs on in the ninth with the bases loaded, but couldn't complete the walk-off. Joe Vetrano also had two home runs for the Eagles while Barry Walsh went 3-5 with a home run and a double. Sam McNulty was 4-4 with a homer and double as well.

Now, the Eagles find their season on the brink when facing Nicholls at 3 on Saturday after Alabama did walk it off in the bottom of the ninth of their game. The only good news for BC right now is that because of the marathon, that Bama-Nicholls game didn't start until 10 on Friday and ended around 1 A.M. our time on Saturday.

"It was good to play a nice, quick, clean ballgame," head coach Mike Gambino joked afterwards. A picture of Gambino alongside Troy players helping to get the tarp on the field went viral during the delay. "It was a good baseball game. I'm proud of how the boys battled. I think, win or lose - and I said this to them afterwards - I love what we did. We made a couple mistakes on the mound they took advantage of, but that's what they've been doing all year. We knew they had thump in their lineup."

The biggest mistakes came in the top of the seventh. West was only able to go two innings because of the delay, but Eric Schroeder was fantastic in relief, going 4 1/3 giving up just three hits and an earned run. With one out in the inning, he gave up a double and Gambino came out to get him in favor of Joey Ryan. Ryan's first pitch was a grounder to Nick Wang at third that wasn't fielded cleanly. That quickly led to a Cole Meyers three-run-homer and a stunning 6-4 Trojans lead. A hit batter and a two-run shot soon followed and BC was in an 8-4 hole. Andrew Roman then came on to get two strikeouts.

On the other side, Troy reliever Bobby Thompson had a rollercoaster outing over 4 2/3, giving up five walks and three hits, but held the Eagles to just one run. On the afternoon, BC left 13 runners on base, and most of them came against Thompson. Thompson was pulled after getting Vetrano to strikeout to lead off the bottom of the seventh and BC soon took advantage. Wang had a swinging bunt single and Cam Leary doubled to right center. Vince Cimini flew out to center, but Wang was held up at third as the throw home was up the line. McNulty came through with a two-run double and it was an 8-6 game just like that before a pitching change and a Cohl Mercado line out ended the inning.

Roman ended up giving the two runs right back in the eighth and the Eagles found themselves back in a four-run hole. That didn't last long though, as Walsh was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the frame and Peter Burns walked. After a Pat Roche pop out, Veterano launched his second homer of the day deep to center, cutting it to 10-9. BC threatened a bit more. Wang struck out, but Leary walked before Vince Cimini lined out to center,

Charlie Coon came on to keep it a one-run game in the ninth, but he gave up a crucial two-out solo home run to make it 11-9. In the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles battled like they have all year. McNulty singled to center and Dan Baruch pinch-hit for Mercado and was quickly hit by a bitch. Walsh laid down a bunt and actually reached when the throw from third pulled the first basemen's foot away from the bag. It was reviewed and despite being extremely close, the call stood to load the bases.

Burns drove in one with a sac fly, making it a one-run game. Roche lined out to center and Troy intentionally walked Vetrano to re-load the bases and push the possible winning run to second.

"Yeah, for sure," he said when asked if it was the ultimate sign of respect to walk him and put the possible winning run in scoring position. "It's a sign of respect, for sure, but I definitely wanted to swing there."

Wang had been a hero many times before this season, but here he hit a ball sharply to second for a fielder's choice that ended the ballgame.

"As that was inning was playing out, I looked at Nick and said 'this is coming to you, they're not going to let Joe hit here," said Gambino of the final sequence. "Wanger has...he has a flair for the dramatic. He loves those at-bats. Obviously, we want Joe hitting any chance we can, but you could see it playing out. Nick gave us a great at-bat. You can't hit a ball harder than that."

Ironically enough, when answering a question about the decision by Troy, Gambino ultimately may have answered why he went with Ryan instead of sticking with Schroeder.

"It didn't surprise me and it's a really tough decision," he said of walking Vetrano. "It takes some guts...you always know when you make decisions that there's going to be...ultimately, your decision comes down to if the kids execute."

Early on, Troy got to West for three runs in the first inning. In the bottom of the frame, BC got one back. Walsh led off with a double to left and Burns flied out to center, allowing Walsh to tag to third. Roche hit a grounder to third that was booted and allowed Walsh to score. The rain began to fall in the bottom of the third when Walsh came up with two on and two out. He laced a two-run shot into the right center field bullpen to tie the game at 3-3 and by the time he came around to touch home, there was a monsoon taking place and the game was quickly paused. It stayed that way for the next three-plus hours until a Vetrano solo shot to dead center (448 feet, his second was 445) put BC 4-3.

Now, this special season is on the brink against a Nicholls team that almost stunned Alabama.

"We've basically been talking about that we've been in playoff baseball for a month-and-a-half and we've had a bunch of games that have felt like Game 7," said Gambino. "Tomorrow's Game 7 again. I don't think it's really going to phase the boys. It's not going to change how we play...we've got to recover, we've got to hydrate.

"This team, all year, I've been so proud of how they respond to everything that's thrown at them. We've lost on Friday night and come back and won two games multiple, multiple times. I have full faith in this leadership. I have full faith in this group. That's kind of how we do things. This team didn't have the feel of a team that would sweep a regional. It has a feel that things are going to go poorly early on and then they'll respond and give us a chance. It'll be a really cool story."