LAKELAND, Fla. – In one of the more highly anticipated games of the year for the Western Michigan baseball team, the Broncos fell in an exhibition to the Detroit Tigers Top Prospects team 9-1 Wednesday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.
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The Tigers weren't shy about sending many of their top prospects out to face the Broncos, including No. 2 ranked Beau Burrows, No. 3 ranked Christin Stewart and No. 10 Jose Azocar. Rankings were based on MLB.com's top-30 prospects for each major league club.
The Tigers pitching was phenomenal, holding WMU's potent offense to just one hit with 12 strikeouts while using seven different pitchers in the game. The Broncos threw eight different pitchers on Wednesday, with Tyler Thorington getting the start. Chris Modrzynski, Zach Mehelich and Tanner Allison all threw a scoreless inning while Allison picked up the pitching staff's only strikeout on the day.
The Tigers offense was hot early, scoring three runs in the first inning and three in the third to lead 6-0 before the Broncos were able to get one on the board. In the top of the fourth inning, Connor Smith drew a one-out walk and moved up to second on a stolen base and then up to third on a wild pitch. Allison provided the RBI single to bring Smith in and make it 6-1. The Tigers added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Nick Vogelmeier also drew a walk in the game, as Bronco baserunners were limited against the tough Tigers pitching staff.
The Broncos will stay in Florida for two more games, facing Northeastern on Friday, March 9 and Villanova on Saturday, March 10. Statistics for the game are linked to the story.
