BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Mitchell College baseball team dropped a 4-2 decision at Southern Vermont College on Sunday afternoon on the final day of the regular season.

Southern Vermont (16-20 overall, 10-8 NECC) took two of three games from the Mariners in the weekend series. The win earned the Mountaineers the final berth in the 2011 NECC Baseball Championship, which will best hosted by Mitchell on May 6-8.

Mitchell (19-8-1 overall, 14-4 NECC) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning and never caught back up. The Mariners rallied in the ninth to put the tying run on second base with only one out but couldn't bring it home.

Trailing 3-0 after two innings, the Mariners put a run on the scoreboard in the sixth thanks to a RBI single by sophomore Osmer Collado that plated junior John Apostolo. Southern Vermont got the run back in the bottom of the frame, however, to make it 4-1.

Mitchell loaded the bases with only one out in the ninth to make it interesting. Senior Jeff Perillo drew a walk to force in a run and cut the deficit to two, and the Mountaineers went to the bullpen in favor of closer Dave Gage. He retired the next two batters he faced to end the game, getting freshman Anthony Santiago to pop out to short and Apostolo to fly out to right.

The Mariners wasted a strong start from freshman pitcher Jon Blair, who tossed 8.0 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out seven.

The NECC will announce the seeding and schedule for the upcoming championship on Monday.