MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta's game plan didn't go like coach Brian Brewer had planned, but he's fine with the result.

The Pioneers (37-4) rallied for three runs in the sixth inning and then turned the game over to junior Sam Mathews, the Ohio Athletic Conference's Kent Tekulve Pitcher of the Year, to toss the final three innings for a 6-4 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan in Game 6 of the NCAA Division III Regional at Marietta College's Don & Sue Schaly Field on Saturday.

Mustering a rally late in games is something the Etta Express is accustomed to doing.

"We've done it all season," Brewer said. "It's something we talk a lot about. It's what good teams do. The good teams answer and answer quickly. Good teams win games late and we've been fortunate to be on the right side of that quite a bit this year."

After giving up two runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Marietta trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth. North Carolina Wesleyan starter Derrick Carter had been solid through the first five innings.

"We had a pretty good report on (Carter). We saw some video that we got our hands on over the internet," Brewer said. "We had a good plan against him. He's really good. He's the pitcher of the year in their league for a reason. He's scrappy and he competes."

Carter, however, would not get out of the sixth inning.

Junior left fielder Zach Boyd led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on Brady Cottom's bunt single. With the bases loaded following a Trent Castle walk, Carter looked like he caught a huge break when Jared Weiss' line drive was snared by third baseman Tyson Bass.

Bass tried to double off Cottom at second, but his low throw got bounced into right field allowing Boyd to tie the game at 4-4. Cottom also advanced to third and then a throwing error by right fielder Alec Titmus allowed Castle to reach second.

With two runners in scoring position, junior Drew Wilkinson came up with a clutch two-strike line drive double to right field that scored Cottom and Castle.

"It was a crazy at-bat," said Wilkinson, who went 1-for-3. "The one strike call I thought was a little off the plate, but then I kind of refocused and did my job and drove it to right field. The more and more I saw him I got more confident, and even on the on-deck circle I felt I got more on time."

The two-run lead was all Brewer needed to turn the game over to Mathews, who earned his 17th career save.

Mathews did give up a hit in each of the three innings he worked, but he also recorded five strikeouts preserve the win.

"Once we got those runs, I figured they were going to go to me. When I come in, I want to throw strikes and keep it down in the zone and let the defenders play behind me," Mathews said. "Ever since high school I like throwing the ninth inning and closing the game out. I feel that's where I'm best."

Brewer agrees with his closer.

"I don't know if I've ever taken Sam out. He's out there for a reason. He's been our guy all year," Brewer said. "He's the pitcher of the year in this conference for a reason, and certainly didn't disappoint today."

Marietta started sophomore lefty Trent Valentine on the mound and Brewer wanted to get a good five or six innings out of him. The plan looked solid in the early going as Valentine limited the Bishops to two hits and four strikeouts through three innings.

With the Pioneers leading 1-0, Valentine got into trouble in the fourth when Wesleyan catcher Brad Pennington led off with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jackson Hobbs' double to center. Hobbs also advanced to third on a wild pitch. Davie Morgan made it three straight doubles when he crushed a Valentine offering to the right-center wall to give the Bishops a 2-1 lead.

Marietta answered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs to retake the lead at 3-2. Logan Vietmeier led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Boyd. Vietmeier moved to third on another bunt and was driven home by Castle's double to right-center. Castle added the second run when Weiss ripped a single to left.

The Bishops responded again in the fifth inning when they scored two runs on two hits and a throwing error by Cottom to take a 4-3 lead off of Marietta reliever Dylan Albright. Senior Isaac Danford entered the game and pitched two strong innings of relief to earn the victory and improve to 4-0 on the season.

"We were really hoping to maybe get six out of Trent (Valentine) and then we pieced that middle together a little bit," Brewer said. "If we can get through five, we feel pretty good about (Mathews). It kind of worked out and helped us out a little bit. We didn't take the lead until a little bit later in the game and being that we were playing two games today we didn't want to run him out there if we were down."

Marietta got on the scoreboard in the first inning. Lead-off hitter Turner Hill hit a hard ground ball past a diving second baseman Davie Morgan and Hill never stopped running as he turned it into a double. After Damian Yenzi popped out, Drew Holderbach hit a blooper to short right that fell in front of a diving Alec Titmus. Hill scored and Holderbach never hesitated and turned the hit into a double.

Pennington led the Bishops at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance, while Drifton Padgett went 3-for-4 with a run. Castle was the only Pioneer hitter with two hits.

"Both teams did a pretty nice job of it," Brewer said. "I'm really impressed with their club, how well they are coached and how they play the game.