MARIETTA, Ohio — No one better tell Penn State-Behrend that the Lions aren't supposed to still be playing baseball.

The sixth-seeded Lions used a three-run rally in the eighth inning to secure a 7-3 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday in Game 7 of the NCAA Division III Regional at Marietta College's Don & Sue Schaly Field.

"I asked early in the dugout before the game, I said, 'Hey, we're awful quiet. What's up?" And Braden (Paulinellie) says, 'Coach, we're locked in,' " said PSU-Behrend coach Paul Benim. "The most challenging thing is they still don't know how good they can be when they play consistently."

While the offense banged out 10 hits against three North Carolina Wesleyan pitchers, it was PSU's junior pitcher Ryan Weaver who came up big. He held the Bishops to five hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings to improve to 6-2 on the season.

"Ryan Weaver was big time today when we really needed him with our season again on the line," Benim said. "We've seen him close out the conference championship game, and today he went 6-plus when we really had to have him and then Mr. Paulinellie had some really big hits and played excellent defense and helped us survive another day."

Paulinellie went 1-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. His lone hit was a lead-off double in the first inning that sparked a two-run start to the game.

"Coach always tells me that we go how you go," Paulinellie said. "So, it's important for me to get that first hit. We just battled for those three runs in the eighth. They were huge for us."

That's when Weaver took over on the mound and limited the Bishops (33-10) to one hit through four innings.

"I thought (catcher) CJ Weller and I had a great little repertoire going there," Weaver said. "We changed up speeds a lot and I thought I had them off balance most of the day. We had a lot of big plays defensively."

The Lions (27-12) extended their lead to 4-0 with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Donny Watters and Weller started the inning with back-to-back singles and then Zack Bowen walked to load the bases.

Wesleyan responded by pulling starting pitcher CJ Dibenedetto for Cullen Davis. Paulinellie drove in Watters on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on an error by second baseman Davie Morgan. Weller also scored on the error.

"Obviously disappointed in the day and not the way we wanted to play," said North Carolina Wesleyan coach Greg Clifton, whose team also lost to Marietta earlier in the day. "Our defense has not been great all year. I quit counting but I think we gave them seven outs in the eighth inning."

The Bishops scored a run in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to make it a one-run game (4-3). But the Wesleyan defense committed two big errors that allowed the Lions to score three unearned runs on just two hits off of reliever Cullen Davis.

"We were given a few things and it's just the way the game goes. We took a huge sigh of relief," Benim said.

Another move that helped PSU was when Benim made the call to bring right fielder Juston Jones in to pitch in the seventh inning.

"He's been very big for us. We joke around and call him mini Shohei (Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels)," Weaver said. "He's been money for us all year. He's been closing out big games for us in big spots. I knew he was going to get us out of that."

Facing Zach Scott, Weaver induced a double play to end the inning.

"When Jones came in and got that ground ball on the first pitch to get the double play, that was huge, but it was also an outstanding play by our first baseman," Benim said.

Jones allowed two hits and one unearned run in 2 2/3 innings for his second save of the season. Behrend third baseman Josh Wagner made two web gems on line drives and also had one hit and two RBI. Weller chipped in with two hits.

Jackson Murray led North Carolina Wesleyan's offense with a single and two RBI.