The Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team capped off a magical postseason run on Tuesday by capturing the program's fifth NCAA Division III championship, first since 2002.

The top-ranked Warriors earned the right to hoist the title trophy by sweeping defending national champion Salisbury (Md.) in the best-of-three championship series, winning 11-6 and 3-2, at Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It's an unreal feeling," said catcher Matt Malcom, a senior from East Lyme, during a phone conversation before boarding the bus to head back to the team's hotel. "It was surreal. It was just amazing that it all came together in the end."

Eastern posted a remarkable 49-3 overall, finishing with a program-record tying 23 straight wins including all 10 games in the NCAA tournament. Their last loss was April 23.

When reliever Tommy Benincaso recorded the final out on a ground ball, the Warriors celebrated on the infield with an extended hugfest before receiving the championship trophy.

Malcom started to run toward the mound after the final out before reversing course.

"As soon as he hit it, I knew that (Noah Plantamuro) was going to make the play at second base," Malcom said. "I got excited and started to run out there but remembered that I had to go back and shake the umpire's hand.

"I was a little late to the dogpile."

Head coach Brian Hamm took a more subdued approach.

"At that point, I was so exhausted that I put the final out in my notes, hugged the coaches and took it all in," Hamm said. "It's amazing to win a World Series, don't get me wrong. But, at the same time, we were just trying to win a baseball game."

Amazing also describes what Eastern accomplished this season.

The deep and talented Warriors rode strong pitching, hitting and defense to the title. They batted .322 in the national tournament, made just one error and posted a 3.00 earned run average.

Everyone on the roster, which is mainly composed of former Connecticut high school players, made a contribution this season. They were a resilient bunch and played with poise under pressure.

"We just kind of rolled with the punches," Malcom said. "We would have our off days, but we'd find ways to win. We came out and played hard every day and trusted each other."

In the first game of the championship series on Tuesday, Eastern never trailed, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.

The Warriors pounded out 18 hits, including five by the tournament's Most Outstanding Playerr Josh Tower who also had five RBI. Every starter had at least one hit, including Malcom who singled twice and scored two runs. Jack Rich added three hits and Zach Donahue had two hits and two RBI.

"It was very important that we came out and had that many hits," Malcom said. "It definitely set the tone. Going into the second game there was some low morale on the other side. You could feel the energy draining from them."

Killingly graduate Bryan Albee started the opener and earned his 12th victory, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings. Relievers Nolan Lincoln and Jack Wallace finished out the game.

It was a tight battle in the deciding second game.

After falling behind 1-0 in the second, Eastern struck for three runs in the fifth inning. Ryan Bagdasarian's two-out, two-run single broke a 1-1 tie. Donahue also had an RBI.

Benincaso, who threw 2.2. scoreless innings to pick up his second save, finished off the sweep by retiring the side in order in the ninth and combined with starter Billy Oldham on a six-hitter. Oldham (12-2) earned his second win of the national tournament.

Tower, Albee, Oldham, Donahue and Rich made the all-tournament team.

The Warriors completed a mission that they've been on since losing in the NCAA regionals last year in two straight games.

"After going out in the regionals, it definitely fueled our fire and put a chip on our shoulder," Malcom said. "We put all the pieces together."

A rewarding season that started way back on March 5 with a win over Hood College in Frederick, Md., is finally over.

The Warriors, who set a program record for wins, will fly home on Wednesday.

"We played 52 games," Hamm said. "We've been playing here since Friday. We're just exhausted from all the game preparation, managing the team off the field in terms of food and keeping them focused for each game. Now, you're trying to settle in and enjoy the moment."

Hamm said they couldn't have pulled off the national championship run without having the right people in place.

"Whether it's at Eastern and all the people at the university from our faculty to our president to our director of athletics and all our coaches, to being able to recruit the right players into the program," Hamm said. "And most of our players are from Connecticut and we take a lot of pride in representing Connecticut baseball."

Hamm, who's in his fourth season, remembered the day that now associate head coach/pitching coach Chris Wojick, a Montville graduate, called him about the job opening at Eastern. They were both coaching at different schools at the time.

Wojick talked about leading Eastern to a national championship.

"He said, 'Let's do it.' I just didn't realize we'd do it so fast. This is technically our third year because of COVID. We've got a special group. The sad part about this is, it was the last game that they all played together."

g.keefe@theday.com