Wakefield, R.I. — A deflating and damaging fifth inning took the steam of out the Mystic Schooners on Friday night.

Two walks and a crucial throwing error helped fuel Ocean State's four-run outburst that snapped a 2-2 tie.

The Schooners never recovered.

A 9-2 defeat ended Mystic's season in the New England Collegiate Baseball League first round playoff game at Old Mountain Field. Ocean State advances to play Plymouth in the Southern Division championship round series.

The Schooners (22-22) fought their way into the playoffs by winning their final regular season game on Wednesday at Newport but simply ran out of gas. They committed four errors and issued five walks.

"It just wasn't our day and that's how baseball goes sometimes," said Mystic's Chris Winkel, who'll enter his senior year at UConn this fall. "It was a great summer. We grew as a team and learned a lot. You can describe the summer as nothing but a success."

The Schooners managed just five hits and used six pitchers trying to contain Ocean State with little success. Reliever Matt Geoffrion (Maine) took the loss.

"When you play 43 regular season games and an all-or-nothing game two nights ago on Wednesday, your pitching is exhausted," Mystic first-year manager Rob Bono said. "Every pitch we threw Wednesday night meant something and some of those kids had to come back out tonight.

"Every kid competed and gave it everything they had. We just ran out of some timely hitting and some timely pitching. We couldn't get out of a jam here and we couldn't make a pitch there."

Mystic started strong, taking a 1-0 lead on Matt O'Neill's RBI single in the second inning. Ocean State answered in the fourth as Garrett Hodges (Kennesaw State) blasted a two-run home run to take the lead.

The Schooners responded with a tying run in the fifth. Brett Rodriguez (Wofford) hustled his way to a double and scored on a two-out error.

Then the wheels came off.

The first six batters reached base in the fifth for Ocean State. A throwing error allowed the first two runs to score. Ryan Ward (Bryant) belted a two-run home run over the center field fence for a 6-2 advantage.

"A really long inning like that where they just did a whole bunch of things right is hard to come back from," Winkel said.

Ocean State's reliable bullpen closed out the game, holding Mystic to just one hit in the final four innings. Starter Nick Robinson (Rhode Island) earned the win, allowing four hits and one earned run in five innings, while Liam McArthur (Lock Haven) had three hits and two RBI.

O'Neill finished with two hits for Mystic.

The Schooners extended their postseason appearance streak to six straight seasons, the longest active run in the NECBL.

"That's the name of the game," Bono said. "We were in the top three teams in our division and the top six teams in the league. I think we had a very talented team. But, in the game of baseball, the most talented team doesn't always win. That's why you play the game. It's not won on paper."

When asked what Bono liked the most about the team this season, he responded: "The way they handled themselves. They were very professional. ... These guys played for each other."

g.keefe@theday.com