MARIETTA, Ohio — The #13 Marietta College baseball team gave its home fans an exciting glimpse of its potential for 2010, as the Etta Express rolled to a 16-0 victory over visiting University of Dubuque in its home opener Friday (March 19) afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium. [Box Score]

Sophomore right-hander Austin Blaski (Pandora, Gilboa) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Pioneers' offense stayed hot by producing 16 hits to help extend the team's win streak to six straight games and improve its record to 8-2 overall. The Spartans, who finished with just two hits and committed five errors, fell to 5-3 on the season.

Blaski dominated the Dubuque bats, which entered averaging 11.9 runs over their first seven games. He allowed one hit, a lead off single in the seventh, and walked one while striking out six to move his record to 2-1 and lower his ERA to 0.54 in 2010.

Marietta's bats came out hot in the first and built a 3-0 lead. Sophomore shortstop Tim Saunders (Alliance, Alliance) reached on a bunt single. Senior designated hitter Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa., Hampton) followed with a RBI double to center. Junior first baseman Casey Levens (Dayton, Centerville) was hit by a pitch before junior center fielder John Snyder (Altoona, Pa., Altoona) came through with a two-run double to left center.

The Etta Express added to its lead with a five-run third. Beatty led off with his second double of the day. Levens singled. Junior left fielder Britt Meador (Columbus, Worthington Kilbourne) drove in Beatty with a sacrifice fly. Snyder then belted a two-run home run to center. Freshman third baseman Braden Park (Oxford, Talawanda) kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Senior catcher Dan Jones (Lima, Shawnee) and freshman right fielder Jordan Grilliot (Brookville, Northmont) each then reached on a fielding error. Park and Jones both crossed the plate on the second error of the inning.

Marietta pushed its advantage to 10-0 in the fourth. Beatty's school-record-tying third double in as many at-bats got things going with one out. He became the 28th Pioneer to hit three doubles in a game, which is also an Ohio Athletic Conference record. Beatty later scored when Meader reached on a two-out error. Snyder then picked up his fifth RBI of the game with a single, which plated Meader.

The scoring continued in the fifth. Park began the inning with a double to center. Grilliot followed with a triple to the fence in center field, driving in Park. Saunders added a RBI ground out in the frame to give Marietta a 12-0 lead.

Solo home runs from freshman right fielder Aaron Hopper (Wheelersburg, Wheelersburg), Beatty and Levens in a span of four batters, combined with a sacrifice fly by sophomore pinch hitter Niko Stanislav (Olmsted Falls, Berea), helped increase Marietta's lead to 16-0 after seven innings.

Freshman left-hander Andrew Brown (Centerville, Centerville) pitched the final two frames, giving up one hit and striking out four, to seal the 16-0 victory.

Beatty, who is now hitting .500 on the season, finished the game 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two RBI. Snyder went 3-for-3 with a career-high five RBI, Park added three hits and two runs scored in three at-bats and Levens finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored.

Marietta returns to action Saturday (March 20) afternoon when #19 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (8-2) visits Don Schaly Stadium for a Mideast Regional showdown. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 2 p.m. WMOA-AM 1490 and WCMO-FM 89.5 will both carry the game locally. WMOA's broadcast can be heard online at http://wmoa1490.com, while WCMO's broadcast can be heard at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/stream.asx. Live statistics will also be available at http://www.marietta.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm.