CWS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: No. 9/11 Endicott Falls To No. 1/1 Denison In Extras, 4-3 (10 Inn.)

EASTLAKE, Ohio — The No. 9/11 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team fought tooth and nail, but eventually fell via walk-off to No. 1/1 Denison, 4-3 (10 Inn.), in the winner-take-all game of the Division III Baseball National Championship.

Riding high off their game two victory earlier in the day, the Gulls' offense struck first in game three.

Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.) led off the top of the second inning with a sunball triple into the right field corner, and later scored on John Fusco's (Naples, Fla.) RBI single up the middle.

The Gulls (44-14) added another pair of runs in the top of the third, as captain TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine) crushed a two-run shot over the left center field wall.

Despite a few more chances to tack on, the Big Red held the deficit at 3-0.

Denison (51-3), the consensus No. 1 nationally ranked team since March 17, climbed back into the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth, which was also its first hit of the contest.

The following inning, the Big Red knotted things up after an RBI double and an RBI single. James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.) and the Gulls' defense limited the damage to keep the game tied. Benestad cut down a base stealer with a dime of a throw to contribute to escaping the game with a tie score.

In the top of the seventh, Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.) doubled to lead off the inning, but was stranded at second to keep the game deadlocked.

Then, with the Big Red threatening in the bottom of the seventh, Kyan Bagshaw (Amherst, N.H.) appeared out of the bullpen for the second time of the day. Bagshaw induced a groundout to Liponis and a flyout to center to strand another Denison runner and keep the Big Red off the board in the inning.

After another scoreless inning thrown up by Denison, Endicott head coach Bryan Haley turned back to game one starter and D3baseball.com National Pitcher of the Year, Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.).

Stuart set down six out of seven of the first hitters he faced, and sent the game into extras with his stellar relief performance.

In the bottom of the 10th, the first two Denison batters reached base via back-to-back singles. With another pitching change, the Gulls looked to Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.) for the second time on the day.

Unfortunately, for the Gulls, the Big Red drilled one high off the right field wall, plating the championship-winning run in an all-time classic game. 

Liponis (SS), Fusco (OF), and pitchers Stuart and Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.) were named to the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott's national runner-up finish marks the best NCAA placement by a varsity athletics program in school history.
• The Gulls were the first team in NCAA Division III baseball history to face elimination at all four postseason rounds.
• Endicott is also the first NCAA Division III baseball program ever to claim victories in four winner-take-all games en route to the CWS Championship Series. 
• Denison won its first-ever NCAA Division III baseball national championship.
• It also marks the school's third NCAA title this academic year (women's basketball, men's swimming & diving).
• The two teams have combined for six College World Series appearances in the last four seasons.
• The Gulls set the NCAA DIII single-season hit-by-pitch record with 168 total batters being plunked this year. 
• Scully showed his best stuff in another elimination game, getting the no-decision on five innings, two hits, three runs (all earned), two walks, and five strikeouts.
• He went 3-0 in elimination games this spring.
• Liponis ended his career with 24 homers, which ranks him fourth all-time in program history.
• The Big Red have not lost two games in a row since last year's College World Series (June 1).

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)