BOX SCORE
OXFORD, Ohio- The Western Michigan baseball team (14-7-1, 1-3 MAC) got its first Mid-American Conference win, defeating Miami, 8-4, in Oxford, Ohio on Friday. Joe Sheets blasted a two-run homer and Max Kelmigian went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the win.
Sheets rang up his third home run of the season in the first inning to give WMU a lead it would not relinquish, cracking a two-run shot to left field. The Broncos proceeded to build an 8-1 lead over the next seven frames, holding off a late surge by the RedHawks in the ninth inning.
Brown & Gold starter Ethan Hollingsworth struck out a season-high 10 batters, scattering six hits in 8.0 innings, walking just two.
MU cut the WMU lead to one in the bottom of the inning as Hollingsworth gave up half of those hits in the first, when Miami scored its only run until a late Tommy Nurre three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The Broncos pounded out a total of 13 hits and played errorless ball, recording their third-straight victory.
Leading 2-1 after one inning, WMU extended its lead to 5-1 in the next two at bats. Grant Simotes drove in a run for the Broncos in the second and a Kelmigian RBI-double and Kyle Galbraith single in the third brought two more scores across for WMU.
The teams played two scoreless innings until Western Michigan furthered its advantage, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth inning. A Kyle Gendron double to right field allowed Kelmigian to score his second run of the game. Gendron crossed home on a Miami fielding error to also score his second run of the game, and the Broncos took a 7-1 lead.
Galbraith collected his second hit and RBI in the eighth, putting WMU up by an 8-1 margin.
Retiring before heading into the final inning, Hollingsworth was replaced on the mound by Drew Mahan. Mahan ran into some trouble, as Miami mounted a late comeback, giving up a single, walk and then the three-run Nurre homer. Mahan would give way to Derek Mosher, who turned out the lights on the RedHawks, recording a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to close out the WMU victory.
Western Michigan took its first MAC win away from the contest, after being swept in its conference last weekend at Ohio. WMU and Miami (6-19, 1-6 MAC) are back in action tomorrow, facing off at 6 p.m., at Hayden Park. The road series wraps up with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday. run off six hits, while striking out 10 batters.
