TIFFIN, Ohio — Sophomore #Austin Blaski (Pandora/Gilboa)# delivered a dominating pitching performance and the offense continued to gain momentum as the #17 Etta Express opened its 38th Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament appearance with a 13-4 victory over John Carroll University Thursday (May 13) afternoon at Peaceful Valley on the campus of Heidelberg University. [Box Score]

The second-seeded Pioneers, 27-time OAC Tournament champions, improved to 31-9 on the season and 89-30-1 all-time in the league tournament. Earlier in the day, top-seeded #3 Heidelberg University (35-6) routed fourth-seeded Muskingum University 29-5 to kick off the 2010 OAC Tournament and advance to Friday (May 14) morning's winners bracket game against Marietta at 9:30 a.m. The Fighting Muskies (22-17) and the Blue Streaks (25-15) will play the first elimination game of the tournament at 12:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at http://herald.heidelberg.edu/statcrew/bb/xlive.htm.

Marietta's ace Blaski scattered just one run on five hits and matched a career high with 10 strikeouts over seven innings to improve to 9-3 on the spring. Sophomore #Logan Lewis (Nashport/Tri-Valley)# followed with a scoreless eighth. Sophomore #Luke Langdon (Troy/Troy)# allowed three runs before retiring the final batter in the ninth to seal the win.

The Pioneers' offense produced 13 runs on 17 hits in the victory. The Blue Streaks finished with four runs on nine hits in the loss.

Marietta wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard as it plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior center fielder #John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona)# came through with a two-out single up the middle. Senior designated hitter #Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton)# then launched his team-leading 13th home run of the season over the left field fence to give the Etta Express a 2-0 advantage.

Junior first baseman #Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville)# drilled a two-run shot of his own after sophomore second baseman #Kirby Becker (South Euclid/St. Ignatius)# began the second frame with a walk to extend the lead to 4-0. Freshman right fielder #Jordan Grilliot (Brookville/Northmont)# and sophomore shortstop #Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance)# both followed with singles, before junior left fielder #Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne)# cleared the bases with a two-run triple to center field to give the Pioneers a 6-0 lead.

John Carroll scored its first run of the game on a RBI ground out in the top of the third. The Pioneers, however, came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to build their lead up to seven runs, 8-1. Grilliot reached on a two-base error and scored on another miscue after Saunders reached on a bunt single. Saunders then crossed the plate on a Meador RBI ground out.

In the fifth, back-to-back singles by Beatty and Park followed by a sacrifice bunt by Becker set the stage for Levens, who quickly produced a two-run single through the left side. Meador drove in Levens with the Pioneers' third run of the inning and 11th of the game with a two-out single later in the frame.

Syder opened the sixth with a double to right center and raced home on a RBI from Beatty, giving the Etta Express a 12-1 advantage. Synder then added another RBI single to score Saunders in the seventh and complete Marietta's scoring. John Carroll scored three runs in the ninth but fell 13-4.

Snyder and Beatty both finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Meador and Levens added two hits and four RBI apiece, while Park and Saunders both collected a pair of hits in the win.