BEREA, Ohio – Less than three months ago, Baldwin Wallace University graduate Mark Zimmerman '16 (Akron/ Green) was completing a record-setting career as arguably one of the best-ever baseball student-athletes at the University and for a Yellow Jacket program that is one of the best in NCAA Division III.  Now the 33rd round draft pick of the San Diego Padres is pitching well for its short-season Class A franchise in Pasco, Washington.

To date, Zimmerman has made seven relief appearances and has 0-2 record with a solid, 1.23 earned run average (ERA). He has allowed just 11 base hits and four runs (two earned) in 14 and two-third innings pitched. Zimmerman has walked just three batters and struck out 19. He has a .0955 whip (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) and has whiffed 11.77 batters per nine innings.  CLICK HERE to view Zimmerman's minor league statstics online. 

"Mark has had a strong start to his minor league career," said sixth-year BW Head Coach Brian Harrison. "We knew all along that Mark has the talent and ability to pitch at the next level.  Now he is getgting that opportunity and it is great to see.  We are very excited for Mark and his family."

In May, Zimmerman was selected as a first-team d3baseball.com Division III All-American as both a pitcher and as a utility player (meaning he can pitch, hit and field) and as a third-team ABCA/ Rawlings (American Baseball Coaches Association Division III All-American and as a utility player.

Zimmerman also was selected as the Ohio Athletic Conference, D3baseball.com and the ABCA/Rawlings Mideast Region Player of the Year.  He is a three-time D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-Mideast Region selection, including earning first-team honors for last two seasons. Zimmerman became just the third OAC and first-ever BW baseball player to earn first-team All-OAC honors for four straight years.

This season, Zimmerman led the team both at the plate as its top hitter and on the mound as its staff ace. He batted .368 (60-for-163) with team-highs of 60 base hits, 15 doubles, 30 walks, a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases, a 472 on-base average and a .540 slugging average. Zimmerman also was second with 40 runs scored and three home runs and tied for the most triples with two and tied for second with 33 runs batted-in (RBI).  On the mound, he started a single-season school-record 12 games, had a 7-4 record with a 2.50 earned run average (ERA), two complete games and a pair of shutouts (one individual and one combined) and struck out a single-season school-record-tying 91 batters and walked just 15 in 75 and two-third innings pitched. That is 10.82 strikeouts and just 1.78 walks per nine innings pitched.

For his career, Zimmerman played in 171 games and had a .368 batting average with a school-record 242 hits in 662 at-bats with 157 runs scored, 52 doubles, 11 triples, 11 homers, 142 RBI and 40 stolen bases in 45 attempts.

The Yellow Jackets compiled a 23-20 overall and 13-5 OAC record this season, tied for second place during the OAC regular season and advanced to the 2016 OAC Championship Game. Zimmerman and the BW senior class of 2016 graduates with a 111-65 record, three OAC Tournament appearances, including advancing to the OAC Championship Game twice, two NCAA Division III National Tournament appearances, including winning one Regional title (Mid-Atlantic Region inn 2014) and one NCAA Division III College World Series appearance (2014).