LAKELAND, Fla. - "This is nothing unusual. You've had your backs against the wall all season." Head Coach Patrick McCarthy told his team in the dugout following the loss Monday night. 

The Eagles face elimination in a very difficult bracket as the No. 11 team in the last poll and the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season champions Milligan will be across the field with one team heading home after the game that is slated for an 11 a.m. start eastern, 10 central. 

For Faulkner, the resiliency of this team will continue to be tested and the safety net is gone now.

Milligan is looking to write another chapter in one of the Buffaloes' best seasons, having won their conference title for just the second time in program history and achieved the highest ranking ever in the final regular season poll and tied the record for wins. 

Faulkner and Milligan are coming off of narrow losses Monday as both teams had the tying run on first in the ninth. 

The Eagles are likely to start Brandon Napier who carries a 4.07 ERA over 55.1 innings of work, highlighted by his complete game at William Carey that started the fight off the ropes and broke a run of six losses in seven prior games and fueled a series win. 

He is likely to face either Jonah Ward or Jack McLaury. Both pitchers boast nearly identical stat lines with just McLaury's numbers slightly better over nine starts and 73.1 innings of work with a place on the AAC second team. 

Four all-AAC bats are in the lineup for the Buffaloes with Cade Kalehuawehe at catcher, Braxton Baird at short, Bobby Melton in the outfield and Gaven Jones at third. 

The road is long from here to Idaho. The winner of the game will take on the loser of British Columbia and Southeastern Wednesday and have to beat the winner of the Thunderbirds and Fire Wednesday night and again on Thursday to get to Lewiston.