After an opening-round upset loss, the UNC Bears were left with no margin for error in the Great West Conference Tournament loser’s bracket.
That margin was crossed Thursday in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the New York Institute of Technology in Grand Forks, N.D. UNC finishes the season — coach Carl Iwasaki’s first — with a 24-32 record.
The teams entered the 10th tied at 2, but after second-seeded UNC scored a run in the top of the inning, fourth-seeded NYIT came back with two off reliever Brendan Hall for the win.
Junior Adam Hilker, senior Bret Fanning and junior pitcher Casey Coy each had two hits for UC, with Fanning and Coy driving in runs.
Coy had a career-high six strikeouts with six in eight innings, and junior Cameron Tallman pitched a scoreless ninth.

After falling victim to an opening-round upset Tuesday in the Great West Conference Tournament in Grand, Forks, N.D., second-seeded UNC survived an elimination game Wednesday, holding off sixth-seeded Texas-Pan American, 7-5.
The Bears, now 24-31 overall, face fourth-seeded New York Institute of Technology at 4 p.m. Thursday in another loser’s bracket contest. The Bears split their four road games against NYIT in the regular season.
NYIT (18-31), opened tourney play with a 3-2 win over fifth-seeded New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday, before falling to top-seeded Utah Valley, 5-3, on Wednesday.
UNC, which fell to seventh-seeded North Dakota, 5-1, in the opening round, got four RBIs from junior All-GWC outfielder Jarod Berggren to beat UTPA. All-GWC second-teamer Ben Packard had two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Adam Hilker and Bret Fanning scored a pair of runs apiece.
Joe Sawicki, a second-team All-GWC selection, got the win, allowing five runs and 10 hits in 8.1 innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Cameron Tallman struck out the final two UTPA batters to notch the save.