KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team will look to build off its win in the series finale at Central Michigan with a trip to Illinois on Tuesday, April 18. The Broncos and Fighting Illini will play under the lights, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 ET.
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Offensively, the Broncos hold the 31st best batting average in the nation at .301, which is also good for second in the conference. WMU is also second in the MAC in fielding percentage at .977. Much like it's been all season, Tanner Allison leads the team in many offensive categories including batting average (.391), hits (50), RBI (47), doubles (10) and home runs (eight). After this weekend, Allison is now the nation's leader in RBI per game at 1.52; He's also 12th in the nation in total RBI and 30th in slugging percentage. Sophomore Connor Smith is coming off a good week where he hit a team-leading .411 and scored five runs. Senior Alex Goodwin also had a nice week, hitting .375 with a team-high two doubles and four RBI while Tyler Frank hit his first career home run in the win on Sunday.
The pitching staff is led by senior Kyle Mallwitz, the team's leader in innings (58.0), strikeouts (46), wins (five) and appearances (18). WMU will be throwing left-handed pitcher Jacob Piechota against the Fighting Illini; Piechota is 2-2 with a 5.31 ERA in 42.1 innings. Gabe Berman is 2-1 with a team-leading three saves in 28.2 innings pitched.
After the midweek game at Illinois, WMU will host 10 straight home games, including a three-game series at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field against Eastern Michigan (April 21-23), Ohio (April 28-30) and Southeast Missouri State (May 5-7).
