Down to the wire: Eagles eye Raiders, PC Wild Card

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (April 24, 2014) – Tallahassee Community College may not control its own destiny but there's no denying the Eagles' fortunes have taken a 180 degree turn heading into Friday's regular season finale at Gulf Coast State College. 

Just three days ago, Tallahassee took the field against Northwest Florida State College, not only facing elimination from postseason contention but trailed the Raiders by three games with three to play in the race for third place in the Panhandle Conference standings and the league's accompanying Wild Card berth. 

The PC Wild Card will play the Wild Card from the Mid-Florida Conference at 5 p.m. Monday. The location will be determined once the matchup is set. With two games remaining, Seminole State College has a two-game lead over Santa Fe College for the MFC Wild Card. 

The Eagles stayed alive with a 9-2 win over Northwest Florida State then staved off elimination not once but twice on Wednesday. First, Tallahassee scored a 15-7 win over conference leader Gulf Coast State. Then, the Eagles got an assist from Chipola College, who matched Tallahassee's run total in a 15-3 rout against Northwest Florida State. 

That quickly, Tallahassee shaved two games off the Raiders' lead and is a major player in the postseason conversation as the quartet sorts out the PC's top three seeds beginning at 5 p.m. eastern Friday. At the same time Tallahassee and Gulf Coast State get underway in Panama City, Northwest Florida State and Chipola will toss the first pitch some 60 miles away in Marianna. 

The stakes are high for all four teams – while Tallahassee and Northwest Florida State eye one another for the PC Wild Card, Gulf Coast State and Chipola are chasing the conference championship. 

Tallahassee's lone path to advancing is a repeat of Wednesday's outcomes – a win over the Commodores and a Northwest Florida State loss. That scenario would leave the Eagles and Raiders with matching 9-11 PC records, but Tallahassee would claim the Wild Card berth by virtue of winning the season series, three games to two. 

The Eagles locked up the tie-breaker in Tuesday's win over the Raiders, one that came on the heels of a two-week span that saw Tallahassee drop four straight and seven of eight following an eight-day layoff (March 28-April 4). Ironically, it was Gulf Coast State who sent the Eagles into the tailspin, sweeping the first three games of that stretch by a combined score of 28-7. 

Tallahassee averaged just under 3.5 runs in the seven losses but almost tripled that output on Tuesday against Northwest Florida State and answered the bell in an even bigger way on Wednesday, racking up 16 hits against three Gulf Coast State pitchers in the seven-inning victory. The task will be much more difficult on Friday. 

The Commodores, whose sophomores will be playing their final home game, will roll out Cameron Ragsdale and his perfect 8-0 record. More importantly, a win would give Gulf Coast State a share of the PC championship – that and a loss by Chipola and the Commodores will be the outright champions. 

If Gulf Coast State and Chipola end in a tie, the teams will be co-champions but the Indians would grab the PC's No. 1 seed which, in the expanded ten-team FCSAA Tournament format, is a sizeable advantage. This year's bracket pairs the PC's No. 2 seed against a Wild Card participant, likely from either the Suncoast Conference or Southern Conference, and adds an extra game to an already grueling gauntlet. 

For Tallahassee, however, the expanded tournament must seem like a windfall at this point. In previous seasons, the Eagles' losing skid would have resulted in elimination almost two weeks ago and rendered the final half dozen or so games virtually meaningless. 

Instead, Tallahassee has the opportunity to win its way into the postseason on the final day of the regular season for the first time in 14 seasons. In 2000, the Eagles, who had to win their final eight games to claim the PC's No. 2 seed, did just that, culminating with a win at, you guessed it, Gulf Coast State.