MARIETTA, Ohio - Rowan pitcher Drew Ryback came back for a fifth season for this moment.

Ryback, a graduate student, scattered seven hits and struck out five as the top-seeded Profs defeated Penn State-Behrend 8-1 in the first game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional at Marietta College's Don & Sue Schaly Field on Thursday.

"This has been the most fun I've had in my life. This is my favorite team to play for," said Ryback, who improved to 8-1 on the season. "We've had plenty of good teams, but the chemistry we have and the way we win games is so special to me. The way they have my back too, I gave up three hits in a row and let up a run and we come right back and score two."

Ryback pounded the zone with mostly fastballs and change ups, and didn't give up a walk while throwing only 93 pitches. Ryback was the New Jersey Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year.

"Every game starts with the guy on the mound. When the guy on the mound gives you a complete game it's just a fantastic job," said Rowan coach Mike Dickson, who was named the NJAC Coach of the Year in 2021. "We talk about it all of the time, don't allow freebies. When other teams have to hit to get on, you're just not going to score a ton of runs. Drew was tremendous out there today."

Behrend coach Paul Benim was impressed with Ryback's performance.

"He did a good job of attacking and challenging us," he said. "We had a couple of hitters who had really good at-bats. He just did a really good job and threw a complete, which is how you win this tournament."

Both pitchers were throwing well through the first two innings, but Rowan (26-4) broke through against PSU-Behrend starter Jacob Lindow (5-3) in the third inning. The Profs loaded the bases with one out and the heart of their order coming to the plate. However, Lindow looked like he might get out of the jam when he coaxed a ground ball out of No. 3 hitter Alex Kokos that third baseman Josh Wagner snagged and threw home to get Jared Marks for the second out.

Instead of escaping the inning, Lindow's first pitch — a change-up — was belted by clean-up hitter Ryan Murphy over the left-field fence for a grand slam.

"I was looking to drive that ball to straight center field on a fastball and he threw me a change up and I just drove through the ball, and there is went," said Murphy, who went 3-for-5. "I wanted to attack. I knew they were going pitch in the zone."

Lindow said he felt strong on the mound, but the third inning got away from him.

"Th pitches in the bullpen went well. First inning was good and second inning was good," he said. "The third inning was a little rough and the fourth inning was also pretty good. I felt good today, but just had one bad inning.

Rowan added another run in the third when Nick Schooley crushed a triple to right-center and scored on Ryan Mostrangeli's single.

The Lions (25-12) finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth when Anthony Slate, Zack Bowen and Jacob Dietz had back-to-back-to-back singles — with Dietz driving in the run. But Ryback didn't allow another baserunner over the final four innings.

"He came back to pitch in this type of atmosphere," Dickson said. "He was poised out there and he commanded three pitches for strikes. Exactly the way he drew it up this past week in practice is how he performed today."

Rowan added two insurance runs in the fifth inning and another run in seventh.

Murphy led off the fifth with a single and scored, while Mostrangeli also singled and scored. Mostrangeli finished 2-for-5 with an RBI. Jared Marks, who went 2-for-3, added a single in the seventh and scored on Ryan McIsaac's single.

McIsaac had two hits, along with Victor Cruz and Schooley.

"I think our guys do a good job of getting pitches to hit and our lineup is deep," Dickson said.

Colin Harger and Slate each had two hits for Behrend.

"They're the No. 1 seed for a reason," Benim said. "They are a very talented college baseball team. I do believe we can be pretty good. Their big guy hit a pretty good pitch and it changed the flavor of the game."

The Lions return at 11 a.m. Friday to play the loser of the Marietta-Rochester game, while Rowan faces the loser of the North Carolina Wesleyan-St. John Fisher game at 2:30 p.m. Friday.