WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team lost to arch-rival Marietta College, 1-0, in its first 2016 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament game at Fishbaugh Field at top seed and host Otterbein University.

The Yellow Jackets (21-19) now play OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University (19-21) in a consolation bracket game on Friday, May 13 at 12:30.

In today's first game, host Otterbein (32-9) defeated No.4-seed John Carroll University (19-21) by a 9-2 score. Otterbein plays Marietta (26-15) at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner of the BW versus JCU game and the loser of the Otterbein and Marietta contest play in the consolation bracket final on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The OAC Championship Game(s) are Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

The Pioneers gained a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a double and two ground outs. The Yellow Jackets had a chance to tie or take the lead in the top of the sixth when they had runners on second and third with one out but could not get a key hit. Marietta then had an opportunity to increase its lead in the bottom of the inning, but three-time All-OAC center fielder John Taylor (Stow/ Hudson) made a perfect throw home to cut down a Pioneer runner at the plate to end the frame.

Marietta had another chance to increase its lead in the bottom of the eighth. The Pioneers had runners on first and third with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout ended that threat. BW had one last chance to tie it in the ninth when senior right fielder Jerry Scholle (Hinckley/ Medina Highland) earned a walked and stole second, but was the third and final out when he was hit by a grounder by sophomore catcher Alex Marcum (Granville).

On the mound, senior right-hander Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green) pitched an outstanding game but took the loss to fall to 7-4 this season. In eight innings, he allowed eight hits and one run (earned), struck out six and did not walk a Marietta batter. He stretched his streak of not walking a batter to 33 straight innings and the earned run was the first he has allowed in the last 33 frames.

At the plate, the Pioneers outhit the Yellow Jackets, 8-3. Junior All-OAC second baseman Cole Nieto (Brunswick/ Cleveland St. Ignatius) had a double in the first inning, junior shortstop Steve Montgomery (Canton/ Central Catholic) had a single in the sixth and Marcum's game-ending ground ball that hit Scholle for runner's interference is statistically a base hit..

The winner of the OAC Tournament receives an automatic berth in the 2016 NCAA Division III national tournament. The regional tournaments begin the week of May 17 and the College World Series is the week of May 24. The Yellow Jackets have participated in the past two NCAA Division III national tournaments. BW advanced to its first-ever Division III College Baseball World Series in 2014, and qualified for the regional tourney a year ago.