KALAMAZOO, Mich. – With the arrival of the final week of the regular season, the Western Michigan baseball team will play its final midweek non-conference game on Tuesday, May 16 at Notre Dame with game time slated for 6 p.m.
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The Broncos head into the final week of the regular season at 20-26 overall while the Fighting Irish are 25-27 and are coming off a series where they took two of three at home against Austin Peay.
The Bronco offense boasts a .306 batting average, good for 22nd in the nation and first in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). WMU has six players batting over .300 in Andrew Stone (.378), Tanner Allison (.367), Connor Smith (.350), Tyler Frank (.322), Nick Vogelmeier (.319) and Grant Miller (.306). Allison is three RBI away from breaking the single season WMU record and is fourth in the nation in RBI per game (1.33) while Smith is fourth in the nation in triples (seven). Frank is on a team-high 13-game hitting streak entering the week.
The Bronco pitching staff holds a 5.58 ERA this season as Kyle Mallwitz leads the team in most categories, including wins (five), innings (83.0) and strikeouts (70) with a 3.80 ERA. Jacob Piechota is 2-3 with a 4.92 ERA while Jimmy Townsend-Chase is 2-2 with a 4.81 ERA in 48.2 innings. Nic Laio had a busy week out of the bullpen, pitching 2.0 innings against Michigan State and combining for 8.0 innings during the Bowling Green series.
WMU will host Buffalo this weekend in the final MAC series as both teams have not clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament. The Broncos and Bulls will square off on Thursday, May 18 at 3 p.m., Friday, May 19 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, May 20 at 1 p.m. The MAC Tournament will start on Wednesday, May 24 in Avon, Ohio.
