GORHAM — When you discuss the best Division III college baseball programs in New England, the conversation usually starts with the University of Southern Maine and Endicott College.

Wednesday afternoon, they showed why.

The Gulls edged USM 2-1 in 11 innings on an RBI single by Matthew Paolo, snapping the Huskies’ seven-game winning streak. That came after the Huskies had tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by Brendon Joyce.

It was a brilliantly pitched and played game that had coaches and players on both sides looking ahead.

“That’s like a regional-caliber game,” said Sam Dexter, USM’s talented junior shortstop. “Those types of games get us ready for May.”

These teams have met in the NCAA Regional championship game the last two years, with USM advancing both times to the D3 College World Series. This year, the Huskies (16-7) are ranked second in New England and either 20th (Collegiate Baseball) or 21st (NCBWA/D3Baseball.com) nationally. Endicott (17-10) is ranked fifth in New England.

The teams had played earlier this year in Beverly, Massachusetts, with USM winning 4-2.

“We’re fortunate to play a really challenging schedule,” said Endicott Coach Bryan Haley. “And to get into this game kind of midway through the season and compete against the best, and they are the No.1 team right now, it gives us a chance to see where we’re at. It’s a barometer, no doubt.”

Endicott held a 1-0 lead entering the ninth behind the pitching of freshman Owen Bautze, who kept the Huskies off balance by mixing his pitches and throwing a tantalizing curve. The Gulls had scored off USM starter Nick George on Nicholas DeLotto’s sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Bautze got the first two outs in the ninth but Damon Wallace lined a single to right-center. Then Joyce yanked the next pitch into the right-field corner, with Wallace coming in to tie it.

Joyce advanced to third on a throwing error but Bautze got out of it with a strikeout.

Then the Seagulls got to USM’s Andrew Richards, who was in his fourth inning of relief in the 11th. The Seagulls got four hits, two of them never leaving the infield, off Richards with Paola’s ground single into left scoring Harry Oringer with the go-ahead run. Huskies center fielder Devin Warren saved three more runs with a diving backhand catch in left-center field to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Endicott reliever Nick Quattro (6-0) allowed a base runner in the bottom of the 11th inning but closed out the win.

That, said Haley, showed him that his players are mentally tough.

“Having a chance to close it out and not doing it and then coming back and doing it, it’s not easy to do,” he said. “It’s not easy to get that 27th out or that 33rd out. To be able to go out and do it … it’s a big deal.”

USM Coach Ed Flaherty said his team had plenty of positives to take from this game.

“We had two outs in the ninth, nobody on and we tied the score,” he said. “We almost had the winning run in too.”

And, he said, the Huskies are playing far better than anyone expected.

“We’re better than I thought we’d be at this point,” he said. “We’ve still got to learn, little things that came up in this game today. You’d rather have it happen April 15 than in the Regionals or the conference tournament.”