MARIETTA, Ohio — Eli Atiya has been outstanding all season, but the sophomore saved his best performance for the Profs' biggest game of the year.

Atiya, a crafty left-hander, held fourth-ranked Marietta to just five hits and struck out five as Rowan defeated the Pioneers 2-0 in a match-up of the final two undefeated teams in the NCAA Division III Regional at Marietta College's Don & Sue Schaly Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"I think I did pretty well. We did a great job of hitting spots," Atiya said. "I realized if you give this team anything to hit, they have proven that they are very good. So, we were just locating in and out, and getting our pitches that we wanted and the counts that we wanted."

Through three games in the regional, Rowan pitching has been stifling — allowing 20 hits and four runs as the Profs are 3-0 and need only one more victory to advance to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, starting on June 4th.

However, Atiya's performance is arguably the best of all three.

"We talked before how it all starts on the mound," said Rowan coach Mike Dickson. "Eli did a heck of a job for us. He got out of a jam in there early on and got a big double play ball for us and cruised from there on out. He was really, really good for us today."

The only real threat he faced during his eight innings on the mound came in the third inning.

Marietta strung together three consecutive singles but couldn't plate a run. Drew Wilkinson led off with a single but was cut down at second when he tried to stretch it into a double. Right fielder Ryan Murphy threw a dart to shortstop Nick Schooley for the out.

Brothers Kail and Turner Hill followed with singles, but Damian Yenzi hit into a double play to end the threat.

"That was a momentum changer because they had three hits in a row, but we got a good missile from Murph throwing a guy out at second and then we had first and third and executed a perfect play," Atiya said. "That was what we needed to turn the game."

Marietta coach Brian Brewer was impressed with Atiya.

"Their kid was really good. He did a really good job of mixing. They played hard and we played hard. We've been on the other end of these games most of the time this year but came up a little short today.

Marietta starter Gino Sabatine (9-1) was almost flawless through four innings, but he didn't have the same control of his pitches in the fifth inning as he walked two, hit two batters and had a wild pitch. All of that led to Rowan's only two runs of the game it fell apart in the fifth.

With the bases loaded, Sabatine hit Ryan McIsaac to drive in the first run and then he walked Victor Cruz for the second run.

"We kind of saw at the end of the fourth that he was up a little bit, and Gino that's not where he can pitch," Brewer said. "He threw 32 (on Thursday). It wasn't like he was on full rest, but he certainly gave us the best that he had and competed for us."

Dickson pulled Atiya in the ninth for his closer, Zach Listro. While Listro didn't allow a hit, he did face the tying run after walking Drew Holderbach with one out. Rodreco Rachel came on to pinch run, but he was erased when Logan Vietmeier reached on a fielder's choice and advance to second on a throwing error by second baseman Alex Kokos.

Zach Boyd looked like he might keep the inning going and even drive in Vietmeier for the Pioneers' first run, but Kokos had him played perfectly and snared Boyd's line drive for the final out of the game. Listro recorded his seventh save of the season.

Marietta shortstop Drew Wilkinson had two of the Pioneers' five hits, while Ryan Mostrangeli led Rowan with a 2-for-2 performance. Marietta also had solid relief performances by Dylan Albright (1 1/3 innings, two hits) and Griffin Malick (2.0 innings, no hits and one strikeout).

Marietta faces Penn State-Behrend in a loser's bracket game at noon Sunday. The winner will advance to play Rowan at 3:30 p.m. in the championship game.