Buzzards Bay, Mass. — They lingered for awhile after the season-ending out on Saturday, shedding tears and exchanging hugs during an emotional postgame gathering.

What hurt more than Mitchell College's NCAA Division III baseball tournament experience being over was knowing that this tight-knit group had played together for the last time.

Reality hit the Mariners like a sledgehammer to the stomach.

"It's got to end sometime," senior Kyle Hartenstein said. "I knew it would hurt, but it really stinks. Best team I've ever played on. It's been a pleasure to play with all these guys. It's been a pleasure to win, it's been a pleasure to lose. It stinks saying goodbye."

Sixth-seeded Mitchell bowed out of the Harwich Regional with a 6-0 loss to fifth-seeded Ramapo College. The elimination game was moved to Massachusetts Maritime Academy's turf field.

The Mariners (31-10) managed just two hits — a first-inning single by junior Eric Marriott and New London's Jeremy Santos' third inning infield single — and only four baserunners against junior right-hander Jon Brignoni, who went the distance walking just one and striking out four. He retired the side in order seven times, ending the game by mowing down the last 10 batters.

"We just didn't do enough," coach Travis Beausoleil said. "We squared balls up and hit it right at them or the wind held them up. On turf, there's no bad bounces. They made their plays. Tip your hats to them."

It's a testament to the quality depth of Ramapo's program that it could turn to Brignoni, who entered the game with a stingy 2.18 earned run average, on the third day of a tournament.

Reliever Bryce Bedard, a junior from Ledyard, kept Mitchell in the game, pitching seven strong innings after replacing starter Bryton Ferris with nobody out and two on in the third. Bedard held a potent Ramapo lineup to just five hits and two runs, walking one and striking five.

"I tried my best," said a teary-eyed Bedard. "I just wanted to give the seniors another day."

But the day belonged to the Roadrunners (34-14), who scored two in the first and three in the third for a 5-0 advantage.

The deficit was far too much for a struggling Mitchell attack to overcome. The Mariners had a total of 18 hits — all singles — in three NCAA games, just seven in the last two.

Mitchell's only real threat Saturday quickly fizzled out. In the third, junior Peter Abate reached on a hit-by-pitch and Santos beat out a one-out infield single to put runners on first and second. But Marriott, who had a team-high five hits in the tournament, popped out and Hartenstein grounded out to first to close out the inning.

The Mariners went down quietly in order in the ninth, with Hartenstein and senior Garet Griffin, two of the best players in program history, making the last two outs.

Despite the loss, their postseason was a success. They played a terrific game against No. 3 Keystone College in their opener Thursday but lost 3-2 in 11 innings. They bounced back to beat No. 7 Suffolk 9-3 on Friday for the program's third ever NCAA win.

"Expectations were a little higher than how it ended up," Griffin said. "We played our hearts out, so that's all you can ask for of the guys. We definitely held our own and showed them what we're made of. We let them know we're not just here to make the tournament and don't take us lightly in New England anymore."

Respected programs like Ramapo's will always be a major roadblock for Mitchell. The Roadrunners recruit a higher level athlete at the Mahwah, N.J., school, which has a student body of 6,120 compared to Mitchell's 677.

"They've got a number of Division I transfers," Beausoleil said. "The facilities, the tuition, the enrollment, all adds up against a school like Mitchell. But we've been (in the NCAA tournament) four out of the last five years and we've competed and beaten teams like that.

"We are at the level of competition that we need to be at. We just need a few things to fall our way in future years."

The Mariners are suffering some big roster losses, as nine seniors depart. Their four-year accomplishments are impressive — a 120-41 overall record, three NECC tournament titles, three NCAA trips.

But they'll be missed for more than their statistics.

"It's always good when your best players are your best people," Beausoleil said. "And for guys like Kyle Hartenstein and Garet Griffin and Eddie Santiago, and Sam Sabilia, our bullpen catcher, we're going to miss them on the field. But we're going to miss their personalities and their leadership even more."

g.keefe@theday.com