What might be the best season any team has had in the history of Daniel Webster College athletics is over.

The DWC baseball team battled but came up short in its third game of the NCAA Division III New England Regional, falling to second seeded Wheaton College (32-11) and lost by a 3-1 margin at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass.

“It was emotional,” Eagles coach J.P. Pyne said about the 29-12 team ending its best season ever. “It was a great game, I felt like we were right there. We were one hit away from still playing.”

As can happen against good teams (Wheaton fell in the Division III national championship game last year), the Eagles ran into good pitching. Wheaton starter Nick Filloromo improved to 6-3 as he tossed a four-hitter over seven innings, holding the Eagles, to one earned run.

Filloromo struck out five, didn’t walk a batter, and gave way to relievers Mike Bisceqlia for the eighth (one hit) and Ryan Grant, who pitched a one-two-three ninth for his 12th save.

“After seeing (Filloromo) a couple of times through the lineup, I thought we were going to get to him,” Pyne said. “But he kept mixing pitches and didn’t let us do it.”

Conversely, the Eagles got a fine performance from Dracut, Mass., senior starter Syed Ali, who allowed three runs on eight hits over seven innings, striking out two while walking three. Ali winds up his final season with a 4-4 mark. Mike Patane and Rich Lizotte finished up in relief.

“Syed,” Pyne said, “pitched tremendous.”

The Eagles were trailing 3-0 before they finally broke through on Filloromo for a run in the sixth. Darrik Marstaller, who had two hits, singled, stole second, moved to third on a Kyle Brigham ground out and scored on Elliot Kilgore’s sac fly to right.

But that was it. Wheaton (nine hits) was led by Mike Lavanchy, who had two of those, including a double, and two RBIs. Wheaton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third as Dan Gusovsky was plunked by Ali with the bases loaded to force in a run. It was Gusovsky’s team leading 23rd two-out RBI.

The Lyons made it a 2-0 game, literally pushing across a run in the fourth on Matt Lavanchy’s suicide squeeze. Paul O’Neill, who singled and went to third on Justin Connor’s single, scored the run.

“That’s how they play,” Pyne said of Wheaton. “They manufacture runs. They put people in motion, they bunted with their No. 4 hitter. That’s their brand of ball.”

Wheaton tacked on run No. 3 in the sixth on Lavanchy’s RBI double just inside the right field line off the chalk.

The Eagles other threat came in the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases, but a force out at home and strikeout kept them scoreless at the time.

Overall offensively, Devin DeCarteret of Pelham led the way with two hits, including a double, and Marstaller had two singles.

Grant, who became Wheaton’s all-time career saves leader with 36, ended the Eagles season with a strikeout. The Lyons were slated to play a second elimination game on Friday night against Western New England.

But for the Eagles, and 12 seniors, the end has come. But two straight NCAA tourney appearances, this year coming away with at least a win, wasn’t a bad way to finish.

The baseball team was the first athletic team in school history to record an NCAA tourney win, beating MIT 10-4 on Thursday to stay alive.

“This group has been together, very close-knit,” Pyne said. “It’s been a great run.”

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