KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team is excited to begin its road to defending the 2016 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament Championship as league play begins this weekend. The Broncos will head to Oxford, Ohio to battle Miami on Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m., Saturday, March 25 at 6 p.m., and Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m., all dependent on weather.

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Last season, WMU claimed its first MAC Tournament Championship in school history, but the Broncos are now looking for their first MAC Regular Season Championship since 1989. The Brown & Gold will come into the weekend at 9-8 and are coming off a 6-4 loss to No. 18 Michigan on the road Wednesday. Last season, WMU won the series in Oxford.

The Bronco offense has remarkable early in the season, where the team was ranked No. 10 in the nation in batting average (.323) at the beginning of the week. Six starters are batting over .300 for WMU, including Tanner Allison, who is hitting .431 and leads the team in doubles (7), home runs (6), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.806). He started the week ranked No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game. Along with Allison, Grant Miller (.348), Connor Smith (.338), Jesse Forestell (.318), Nick Vogelmeier (.314) and Tyler Frank (.303) are all hitting over .300.

The Broncos hold a 5.53 ERA as a team this season, as senior Kyle Mallwitz leads the team in innings (28.2), strikeouts (26) and ERA (1.57). Jack Szott has made five starts and has thrown 25.2 innings with a 3.51 ERA while Gabe Berman has thrown 14.2 innings with a 4.30 ERA.

For weather updates on this weekend, keep up with the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball.