MARIETTA, Ohio — Junior center fielder John Snyder (Altoona, Pa., Altoona) extended his hitting streak to 22 games and delivered a key three-run double to lead the #7 Marietta College baseball team past visiting Mideast rival Ohio Wesleyan University 8-3 Thursday (April 15) evening at Don Schaly Stadium. [Box Score]

The Pioneers have now won 15 of their last 17 games and improved their record to 23-5. Former Marietta pitching coach Tyler Mott's squad fell to 15-15 on the season.

Marietta finished with eight runs on 11 hits and overcame two errors. Ohio Wesleyan scored three runs on nine hits and was hurt by three errors, which led to five unearned runs.

Freshman Michael Radvansky (Toronto, Toronto) earned his first career victory with three shutout innings of relief. Radvansky (1-0) allowed just one hit and fanned two in the win. J.R. Osborne took the loss after giving up three unearned runs on two hits in 2/3 of an inning.
 
Snyder, who is now hitting .402 on the season and has reached base in 26 straight games, was one of four Pioneers to finished with two hits and had a team-best four RBI. Both of Snyder's hit were doubles. Senior catcher Dan Jones (Lima, Shawnee) improved his hitting streak to 11 games with his 2-for-4 performane. Sophomore shortstop Tim Saunders (Alliance, Alliance) and freshman right fielder Jordan Grilliot (Brookville, Northmont) also finished with a pair of hits, including a double, in the win.

James DiBiasio, Tim Knezovich and Zach Bott all had two hits in the loss for the Bishops.

Ohio Welsyan broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the third. Marietta tied the game when senior designated hitter Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa., Hampton) drilled his team-leading 10th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth. The Bishops took advanage of two Pioneer errors to score a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Snyder drove in Marietta's second run of the game when he reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the fifth.

Two Battling Bishop errors helped the Etta Express plate four unearned runs and take its first lead of the night 6-3 in the sixth. Saunders drove in the first run with a single up the middle and Snyder had a key three-run double in the inning. Marietta took advantage of Ohio Wesleyan's third error to increase its advantage to 7-3 in the seventh. Jones drove in the run with two-out bunt single. Freshman third baseman Bryan Gregorich (Chardon, Chardon) hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to cap the Pioneers' scoring at eight runs.

Marietta is back in action Saturday (April 17) afternoon when the Pioneers play host to #4 Heidelberg University (23-5, 4-2 OAC) in a key Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader on the 12th annual Community Baseball Day. First pitch between Mideast Region rivals is slated for 1 p.m. Live statistics will be available at http://www.marietta.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm. WMOA-AM 1490 will broadcast the game locally, which can also be heard online at http://wmoa1490.com.

Admission is free. Gates open at 11 a.m. with the handing out of T-shirts and cotton candy. There will also be an Extreme T-Ball inflatable game for the children from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Hot dogs and Pepsi will be served around 12:30 p.m. Ice cream will be hand dipped into bowls around 2:30 p.m.