TIFFIN, Ohio — #17 Marietta College scored seven unanswered runs over the final six innings to eliminate Muskingum University 9-7 Friday (May 14) evening and advance to the championship game of the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament. [Box Score]

The victory improved Marietta's record to 32-10 and sets up yet another a showdown with #3 Heidelberg University (36-6) Saturday (May 15) afternoon at 12 p.m. It marks the third straight year that the two rivals will meet in Peaceful Valley to decide the OAC Tournament title. The Etta Express will need to defeat the Student Princes twice to secure its 28th OAC Tournament Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament, which is being hosted May 19-23 at Don Schaly Stadium. Heidelberg defeated Marietta 12-11 in game three of this year's tournament Friday morning. The Fighting Muskies ended their season 23-18.

Sophomore #Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne)# bounced back from his first loss of the season earlier in the day to throw five strong innings of relief and earn the win. He kept the Muskie's offense quiet until the Pioneer bats could get hot in the later innings. Lindquist (2-1) allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out five in his effort.

Sophomore starter #Mike Mahaffey (Worthington/Bishop Watterson)# lasted just two innings. He allowed seven runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out three. Junior #Mark Williams (Fayetteville/Perry)# closed the game with two solid innings in which he allowed just one hit and struck out two.

Ben Skelley (1-3) was handed the loss after he allowed two runs on three hits in three innings of relief. Muskie starter Michael Congrove allowed seven runs on seven hits in his two innings of action.

A three-run home run from Erik Spitzer gave Muskingum a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the first frame.

Marietta's offense, which out hit Muskingum 17-9, got going with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Sophomore shortstop #Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance)# drove in freshman third baseman #Braden Park (Oxford/Talawanda)# with a sacrifice fly after Park led off the inning with a single. Junior first baseman #Casey Levens (Dayton/Centerville)# also singled and later scored on a RBI hit by freshman right fielder #Jordan Grilliot (Brookville/Northmont)#. The Fighting Muskies continued their hot start and added four more runs in the bottom of the second to stretch their lead to 7-2.

The Etta Express plated its third run of the game on a sacrifice fly from junior left fielder #Britt Meador (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne)# in the fourth. The Pioneers then tied the game in the fifth. A double from senior designated hitter #Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton)# and a RBI single from Levens produced the first run of the frame. Grilliot then came through with a two-run single up the middle to cut the deficit to one, 7-6. Meador quickly tied the score at 7-7 with a RBI single on the next pitch to the plate.

Marietta took it first lead of the evening in the eighth. Jones, who now has a 24-game hitting streak, ignited the offense with a single to start the inning. Snyder followed by reaching on an error. The Pioneers then executed a hit-and-run with Park at the plate. Park delivered an infield single, which plated Jones and the go-ahead run from second base. Levens added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to give the Etta Express a 9-7 advantage.

Seven different Pioneers had multiple hits in the win, including Grilliot who finished 3-for-5 with three RBI.  Jones, Snyder, Park, Levens, sophomore second baseman #Kirby Becker (South Euclid/St. Ignatius)# and Saunders all collected two hits for Marietta. Spitzer, Forrest Wright and Alex Vaccaro all had a pair of hits for Muskingum.

Live statistics of Saturday's OAC championship games can be tracked at http://herald.heidelberg.edu/statcrew/bb/xlive.htm. In addition, WMOA-AM 1490 will broadcast the action locally and online at http://wmoa1490.com