MARIETTA, Ohio - No one from top-ranked Marietta is saying the Pioneers like playing out of the loser's bracket, but the Etta Express has the right attitude.

"We always say the more you play the better you get and typically that's the case and has been this year," said Marietta coach Brian Brewer following a 9-5 victory over Washington & Jefferson (36-10) in the 2012 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Don Schaly Stadium on Friday. "When we play a lot of games in a short window we usually play better."

The Pioneers (39-7) won't have to wait long to get back on the field as they will face the winner of LaRoche and Adrian at 8 p.m. Friday.

While Brewer and his team would like to play as many games as possible, he also recognizes the inherent risk.

"The problem with that is the pitching," he said.

Well, he got some help in that area Friday morning as junior Mike Mulvey (6-0) scattered seven hits and allowed three earned runs in the complete-game victory.

"It started with Mike and it ended with Mike. This is exactly what we needed. It was the only phase that we got exactly what we needed," Brewer said. "Defensively I think we were pretty good."

Mulvey was excited to deliver in the clutch for Marietta.

"I knew if I could come out and command my pitches early I could get ahead of some guys," he said. "I knew the coaches would ride me all day and save the bullpen because we have a lot of games still to play."

Winning another game for the senior class was also a motivator for Mulvey.

"With a postseason game and your backs against the wall you have to play hard," Mulvey said. "This is big for the seniors because this is it for them and we did it for them today."

Freshman left fielder Mitch Geers was on the same page as Mulvey, and his three-hit, three RBI day helped ignite an offense that went cold a day earlier.

"We really needed to get the sticks going today and just try to put the ball in play and see what happens," he said.

Brewer said Geers' experience at high school power Lakota East helped prepare him for big at-bats in college.

"He did it in the beginning of the year, in the middle of the year and then he cooled down late, but he has the potential," Brewer said. "He's played in some big games. His high school team won a state championship. … He's seen good pitching and played in big games."

W&J coach Jeff Mountain said Marietta's offense likes to press the issue and by allowing the Pioneers to get the first batter on base in each of the first six innings is tough to overcome.

"When you're basically placing a guy at first base to start an inning with these guys there's just too many options for them," he said. "It all comes down to pressuring the defense a little bit and they do that."

Mountain even compared it to football and time of possession.

"We talk about prolonged at bats, playing good defense and throwing the ball over the plate," he said. "The less time you spend on the field defensively the better off we are. It's a football analogy, but we were just on the field too much today. They killed us in that time of possession category."

The Pioneers finished with 14 hits, including three from second baseman Kirby Becker and two from shortstop Tim Saunders. Right fielder Niko Stanislav also had a two-hit performance and knocked in two early runs to stake Marietta to an 8-1 lead.

W&J catcher Ronny Peirish went 3-for-4 with one RBI, while shortstop Aaron Klinec went 2-for-4.

The Presidents close the season with a school record 36 wins, a number that impresses Mountain.

"We were coming of a fairly average season last year by our standards, and I don't want to say the expectations were lower this year but we really didn't know what to expect," he said.