MARIETTA, Ohio - The Marietta College softball team put together a spectacular regular season in 2023 and now gets to move on to the postseason as they open play at the 2023 Ohio Athletic Conference Softball Tournament, hosted by No. 1 seed Mount Union.
 
The No. 2 seed Pioneers will face No. 3 seeded Baldwin Wallace University in the first matchup of round one. The first pitch is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.  The host Purple Raiders will play No. 4 seed Muskingum University at noon.
 
"This entire season we have been focused on creating small goals to work towards getting to the OAC tournament," said Marietta Head Coach Jenn Castle.  "The team believed in each goal and saw the potential very early on in preseason that we could be finish in the top four and participate in the tournament."
 
Marietta is making its tenth overall appearance in the OAC Tournament and the first since they appeared in back-to-back tournaments in 2013 and 2014.  They were knocked out of the first round in both of those years.  The Pioneers do have one OAC championship on their resume as they claimed the tournament title back in 1996.
 
Pioneers are currently 24-13 overall and 13-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. They will be facing a Yellow Jacket team that posted a 26-14 overall record on the season and a 12-6 record in the OAC.  In their doubleheader matchup from earlier in the season, the two teams split.  BW took the first game, 9-6, scoring three runs in the seventh to take the lead and holding on in the bottom half of the inning to complete the victory.  The Pioneers dominated in game two of the doubleheader, winning 10-2 in five innings.
 
Marietta has a talented lineup that average nearly six runs per game, good for second in the conference. Junior Rachel Kazmirski (Colliers, W.Va./Brooke) leads the conference with a .466 batting average and 51 runs batted in.  She fell just a bit short in her run for the triple crown, but is second in the conference with 12 home runs.  The Pioneers also boasted two more players in the OAC top five in home runs.  Junior Jillian Middleton (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) hit six bombs and junior Jess Brown (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) sent five over the fence in 2023.  Brown was also second in the league in doubles (13) and runs batted in (37).  Middleton added 12 doubles and 35 RBIs for Marietta this season.
 
Middleton leads the way in the circle for the Pioneers with an 11-4 record this season, mostly by way of relief appearances.  She posted a 3.44 earned run average and has 55 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched this season.  Kazmirski led the team with 18 starts, but was often asked to close games, earning her three saves on the season.  Breanna Zirkle (Pomeroy, Ohio/Meigs) was very effective, posting a 6-1 record and a 3.73 ERA in 23 appearances.  Amelia Timko (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) sits at a 4-2 record in 24 games.
 
"Our team is very talented on the field, but our strength is believing in one another and never quitting," said Coach Castle.  "I have been overly impressed with our determination and confidence that each member of this team has."
 
The tournament schedule will have all four teams play twice on Thursday. The winners of the first two games will meet at 2 p.m. followed by the losers from games one and two at 4 p.m.  Play will resume Friday as the loser's bracket finale is slated for 11 a.m. and the championship game will follow at 1 p.m. Should the "if necessary" game be needed, it will be played on Saturday at noon.
 
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.  Tweet #PioNation