Appleton, WI – The unlikeliest of plays provided the greatest of thrills - and the greatest of heartaches.

A wild pitch on an intentional walk attempt enabled MICHAEL NUNES to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, leading Montclair State University to a 5-4 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in an NCAA Division III Baseball Championship elimination game on Sunday afternoon at Fox Cities Stadium.

Nunes led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a double to left field, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by DANNY RODRIGUEZ.

Eastern Connecticut State head coach Bill Holowaty brought in senior pitcher Alex Narus - the seventh Warrior pitcher used in the game - to face BRIAN BUTLER. On his first pitch of an intentional-walk attempt, the high lob ricocheted off of the top of catcher Matt Cooney's glove and slowly went back to the wall. Nunes sprinted to the plate with the game-winning run.

"Once I saw it (the ball) release out of his hand, I saw that it was very soft, and if he had thrown that a little harder, I think I probably wouldn't have gone because of the concrete back(stop), because it jumps out really far back," Nunes said. "Once I saw it soft in the air, I made sure it got past the catcher's glove, and I knew I had it after that."

Nunes, the Red Hawks' leadoff batter, saved his two best hits for last in his six at-bat day, stroking doubles in both the ninth and 11th innings. His double in the ninth bounded sharply off the third-baseman's glove to drive in the tying run and force extra innings.

"The first couple of at-bats, I felt terrible," Nunes said. "One thing Coach (Norm Schoenig) has always taught me over the past two years is to not get down on myself when I mess up an at-bat - just put that in the past and just keep going forward, controlling the things that you can control, and making sure that you do the things that you can do, like hustling and stuff like that."

"He does that better than anybody I've been around," Schoenig said of Nunes. "He goes out and he makes great plays in centerfield. Throughout the entire year, after a poor at-bat … he'll go out and make a play. He's got the right mental attitude, better than anybody I've ever been associated with in my coaching career."

The unusual ending to the contest provided a bittersweet finale to Eastern Connecticut State's season at 36-20 overall. Meanwhile, Montclair State (35-18-2) advances to face Wheaton (40-9) in another elimination game on Monday at 12 noon.

"We've had a lot of different games. This game is an evil game and it can really, really break you down and wear you out," Holowaty said. "All I can say is our kids didn't quit. It's a shame we had to end our season in a situation like that. It's just a shame. I couldn't ask any more from our kids. … It's just a shame for Alex and our team to end that way. We battled. God bless it, the kids did a super job."

The game was a back-and-forth struggle, as each team matched the other stroke-for-stroke in the contest. Eastern Connecticut State had 11 hits, but stranded 10 runners on base; Montclair State had nine hits and stranded 11 runners.

Montclair State starting pitcher ENRIQUE GOMEZ struck out seven in six-and-a-third innings of work, with KEVIN DALTON and MARTY CABALAR pitching in relief. Cabalar struck out three in two-and-two-thirds innings to claim the win.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Eastern Connecticut State's Randy Re hit a single to drive in pinch runner Greg Sullivan, giving the Warriors a 4-3 lead. Re ended up 3-for-5 at the plate in the game.

"I just tried to put the ball in play and get that run across, that's all I tried to do," Re said.

After both teams scored two runs apiece in the early innings, the teams traded runs in the seventh and eighth frames. Eastern Connecticut loaded the bases in the seventh inning and took the lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by Matt Cooney. But the Red Hawks tied the game in the eighth on ANDREW VICARO's RBI single to left field, plating ROB BOWNESS.

Zach Merbach had three hits for Eastern Connecticut State, while Marc Garofalo had two hits.

ANDREW VICARO had three hits for Montclair State, including his 10th double of the season, while KEVIN CUOZZI had two hits.