MARIETTA, Ohio — Casey Levens' (Dayton/Centerville) pitching performance Thursday night has given Marietta College coach Brian Brewer hope that his team can pull off a minor miracle.

After losing their first game of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional, Marietta's odds of advancing looked slim. Those odds just improved a bit as the Pioneers ended the second day of the tournament with a resounding 11-1 victory over Washington & Jefferson. [Box Score] [Photo Gallery]

Levens gave the Pioneers' bullpen some much-needed rest as he tossed six innings, scattering five hits, as he improved to 2-2 on the season. Brewer now believes his pitching is rested enough to get through four more games.

Earlier in the day, Brian Gasser (New Philadelphia/Indian Valley) tossed 7 1/3 innings in a 6-0 victory over Wooster.

"Casey was really good and considering he's had limited starts for us. But he's shown us how clutch he can be. Those two starts could change this tournament," Brewer said. "Those two starts completely changed things. If we're in two offensive games and throw (Kyle) Lindquist and (Mark) Williams more than we wanted to. I feel really good where we are."
 
The Pioneers (34-12) are back in action at 4:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thomas More and Adrian, who player earlier in the day.

While Levens didn't give up any runs until the fourth, he did struggle a bit in the first inning.

"Really I left some pitches up and they put some pretty good swings on them," Levens said. "When I got to the dugout and talked to the coaches they helped me make the adjustment to get the pitch down. Once I did that I kind of shut them down."

Levens has only started six games, but three of those have come in the past two weeks. Levens also continues to swing a hot bat for Marietta, as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs against the Presidents (32-12).

Marietta took a 3-0 lead in the second and essentially put the game away with six more in the fourth. The Pioneers also added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.

"If we approach this the same way we did today whatever happens is going to happen. If we keep the intensity up we'll be tough to beat," Brewer said. "We wanted to play fast, play hard and be very aggressive. Just short of reckless. Speed's a big strength of ours. Get a lead and that allows you to do those things."

W&J coach Jeff Mountain agrees with Brewer's assessment of the Pioneers.

"I think we needed to get a lead. They're good for a reason. They're athletic. They're good at exposing you. The constant hit and runs and putting guys in motion. Playing in a tough conference helps prepare them," Mountain said. "We were planning on moving runners early if we could, but it's tough to steal on (Dan) Jones. That's why they are a championship caliber team. We had some success last year in the regional, but we didn't play well this year. We would have liked to have put on a better show, but it's not meant to be. We struggled a bit on the mound all year."

The Pioneers roughed up W&J starter Dave Trushel for eight runs (four earned) on six hits. Marietta's Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne), John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) and Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance) each had two hits as Marietta banged out 14. Saunders also had three RBI.

Jim Pasquine was the only W&J player with multiple hits as he went 2-for-3.