WMU baseball earns trip to MAC tournament with series win over CMU

Western Michigan baseball went 2-1 in its final weekend series against CMU. The Broncos won the first and second games 11-6 and 14-5. It lost the third game 1-12 in seven innings. The win in the first game secured a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament for WMU. The team finished the regular season with a 21-29 overall record and an 18-11 record in the MAC. 

WMU had 10+ hits in both the first and the second game. Jimmy Allen led the team with seven hits through the three contests with five doubles on the weekend as well. The shortstop also had five RBIs, tying the team high. Dylan Nevar and Grady Mee also had five RBIs. 

Brady Miller started on the mound in the first game and got the win, improving his season record to 7-4. He had eight strikeouts in his outing. DJ Thompson received the win in the second game and moved to 3-1. Luke Thelen started in the final game and was given the loss, making him 1-5 on the season. 

WMU struck first on the weekend as Allen hit a two run double down the right field line in the first inning if the first game. The Broncos added two more runs in the inning and were up 4-0 after one. A CMU homer cut the lead to three, but Nevar picked up his second RBI of the game in the third inning to extend the lead to five. 

The Chips were able to do some damage off Miller in the top of the fourth by putting three runs on the board and cutting the lead to two. Nevar and Swinehart again both picked up RBIs, this time in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-4. 

The same two did it again in the bottom of the seventh. Nevar tagged RBI number four and Swinehart earned his third. Mee singled to center to knock in a run which capped WMU scoring off at 11. CMU would score two more in the eighth, but WMU held on to win the first game 11-6.

In the second game the Broncos had 18 hits. 15 of which came in the final five innings. Neither team scored a run in the first four innings. In the top of the fifth, CMU opened the scoring with a one run inning. 

WMU responded by scoring eight in the bottom half of the inning. The inning was capped off by a three-run Mee homer. In the sixth inning Allen and Nevar both batted runs in to make the score 10-1. 

Both teams scored a run in the seventh inning. Both teams also scored three runs in the eighth inning. Those were the final runs of the game and WMU won 14-5.

WMU ran out of gas in the third game as it got mercy ruled, only playing seven innings. CMU scored twelve unanswered runs to start the game. 

It was not until the sixth inning in which WMU scored a run. Gavin Doyle hit a solo homerun to right field. It was the last run scored in the game and WMU lost 1-12. 

WMU will travel to Kent, Ohio where it will play the one seeded Kent State in the first game of the MAC Tournament. The game is scheduled for 12 p.m. on May 24 and will be available for stream on ESPN+.