YPSILANTI, Mich. - Behind an outstanding pitching performance from junior RHP Nic Laio, Western Michigan baseball earned a 6-4 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday night inside Oestrike Stadium.

Laio dazzled on the mound for the Brown & Gold going a career-high 7.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out a career-high ten. It's the fifth straight start that Laio has went at least five innings and struck out at least five batters. Laio is now 3-3 on the season with a 2.68 ERA.

Coming on in relief in the bottom of the ninth, redshirt senior RHP Jimmy Townsend-Chase earned his sixth save of the season. Townsend-Chase struck out two of the four batters he faced.

With the victory, Western Michigan improves its overall record to 17-17 and 7-7 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos have now won five of their last seven games. Game two of the three-game series with the Eagles begins on Saturday, April 28 with first pitch at 3:00 p.m.

WMU recorded six runs on 13 hits, marking the tenth game this season in which WMU has registered double digit hits. The Broncos had four players with multi-hit games led by redshirt junior Andrew Stone who went 5-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Freshman Blake Dunn registered a career-high three RBIs after going 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles. Junior Connor Smith continued his stellar play at the plate, finishing 4-for-5 with one double, one triple and three runs scored. Smith registered his ninth career triple in the top of the sixth.

It was a quick start for the Brown & Gold scoring one run on two hits in the top of the first. Back-to-back singles by Smith and Stone gave WMU runners at the corners with no outs. Junior Jimmy Roche hit a hard groundball to the EMU shortstop that led to Smith scoring from third to give WMU the early lead.

The Broncos were back at it again in the top of the third, positioning runners on first and third with two outs. With Blake Dunn at the plate the freshman outfielder laced a double to center field, scoring both runners and extending the Bronco lead to 3-0.

Two innings later, WMU scored two runs on three hits to grab a 5-0 advantage. For the second time, Smith and Stone led off an inning with back-to-back singles to put runners in scoring position. After a ground out, junior Nate Grys lifted a fly ball to left field, scoring Smith from third to give the Brown & Gold its fourth run of the game.

With two outs, Dunn recorded his second double of the night to right field, scoring Stone from second to give the Broncos a commanding 5-0 lead. WMU's lead grew in the top of the sixth after Stone roped a one-out RBI single back up the middle to score Smith.

The 6-0 lead was all Laio needed on the mound as the right-handed pitcher from Downers Grove, Ill., shut down the Eagle offense. Laio held the Eagles scoreless through eight innings, retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.

Eastern Michigan fell short of a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, scoring four runs on four hits while leaving two runners on base. The Eagles rattled off four straight singles including a two-RBI single through the right side to cut the lead to 6-3. A passed ball by Jimmy Townsend-Chase allowed an EMU runner to score from third and cut the WMU lead to 6-4 with one out.

However, Townsend-Chase closed the door on the comeback attempt as the McHenry, Ill., native earned two straight fly outs to end the game and pick up his sixth save of the season.