MARIETTA, Ohio — Heidelberg's Brian Koehl was tossing a gem when he ran into a little jam in the seventh inning with the Student Princes holding onto a 3-1 lead. With All-American Andy Lowe ready in the bullpen the decision seems pretty easy.

Just don't tell Heidelberg coach Matt Palm.

"It's an easy decision on one end, and tough on another because Brian had pitched so well," Palm said. "Andy has been so tough against everybody, but especially against lefties. I felt it was the right time to bring Andy in, but it was a tough decision to take Brian out of the game."

The end result is all the two star pitchers are concerned with. No. 2 Heidelberg (39-6) added a run in the eighth and erupted for five more in the ninth to pull away from Penn State-Behrend for a 9-2 victory in the final winner's bracket game of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Marietta College's Don Schaly Stadium. [Box Score] [Photo Gallery]

Now the Student Princes wait to see who they'll play Saturday in the championship. Three teams are still alive — Marietta, Thomas More and Behrend.

"I heard people talk about being the No. 1 seed and how many games you have to play to win it. You still have to win games," said Palm, who guided Heidelberg to the championship game in 2008. "There are a lot of good teams in this tournament. Our guys have done a great job putting us in this position."

Friday's top performance has to go to Koehl, who scattered six hits, while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings as he improved to 9-0 on the season. Koehl said facing the tournament's lowest seed in Friday had no bearing on their approach.

"We just looked at it as another team. We saw them beat Wooster and they're a good team. It was just another good team going against another good team," Koehl said. "Locating my fastball helped out a lot and my slider looked pretty good."

Koehl agreed with Palm's decision to put in Lowe.

"I always want the ball. It was a close game," Koehl said. "Andy's one of the best and we were in a close situation."

Lowe struck out four and allowed two hits over the final 2 2/3 innings. However, he did allow a solo home run to freshman pinch hitter Vinny Rice in the ninth inning.

"I hung a change up and he made me pay for it," Lowe said.

Behrend coach Paul Benim said the blast gave his team a little spark that he hopes carries over to the Lions next game.

"Freshman Vinny Rice deserve props for that. It really lifted us up," Benim said. "The ninth inning got a little messy as we were trying to get some guys some experience."

PSU shortstop Josh Fyffe also had a productive day at the plate as he finished 4-for-4 with an RBI.

Behrend starter Ryan Jacobs (7-3) kept the Student Princes off balance for four innings before Ricardo Lizcano belted a solo homer in the fifth.

"We really didn't settle in offensively and Brian did a tremendous job. Their hitters looked more comfortable, but Brian did a great job of putting up zeroes. After (Lizcano's) home run we settled in."

Lizcano said the Princes were getting a little anxious at the plate.

"Everybody always feels like (they want to get a big hit) if were down or taking bad cuts," said Lizcano, who went 3-for-5. "Leading off the fifth I felt this was our inning to get on the board."

Alex Monroe also came up big for Heidelberg by going 3-for-5 with a grand slam in the ninth.