ATLANTA, Ga. – The Western Michigan baseball team dropped a close game on the road at Georgia State Saturday afternoon by a score of 6-4. The Broncos will close out the Atlanta Challenge with a game at Russ Chandler Stadium, the home of Georgia Tech, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19.

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The Broncos were able to jump out to an early 2-0 lead, plating one run in each the first and the second, both of which came with two outs. In the first, senior Grant Miller and junior Evan Nelson drew back-to-back two-out walks and sophomore Nate Grys knocked in Miller with an RBI single to center field. In the second inning, senior Tyler Frank drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on sophomore Connor Smith's RBI double to left field.

The Panthers had a huge fourth inning however, coming back to grab a 5-2 lead after the inning started with three straight walks.

The Broncos cut into the lead in the top of the sixth inning as senior Nick Vogelmeier led off with his first career home run to make it 5-3. The Panthers got that run right back, plating in in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 6-3. In the top of the eighth, pinch hitter Andrew Stone led off with a double and came around to score on Miller's RBI single to make it 6-4, but Miller was the final baserunner the Broncos would get.

Grys finished 3-for-5 with an RBI while Miller went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Smith/Vogelmeier each had one hit and an RBI while Nelson drew three walks.

Senior Kyle Mallwitz had a good outing out of the bullpen, throwing the final 3.0 innings scoreless with five strikeouts. WMU's strikeout pitch was working, as the team recorded half of their outs via the strikeout. Andrew Reisinger will suffer the loss, falling to 0-1 this season. Gabe Berman, who missed all of last season due to injury, came back to throw 2.0 innings with three strikeouts, but allowed three runs (two earned).

After the Broncos face Georgia Tech on Sunday, the team will head to Johnson City, Tenn., to battle East Tennessee State for a three-game series.