PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – In its final game at the Snowbird Classic, the Western Michigan baseball team fell to Seton Hall 11-2 on Saturday morning. The Broncos registered six hits overall with two of those hits coming off the bat of senior Caleb Caton.
After giving up a run in the top of the first, WMU (7-9) quickly tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Kurt Hoekstra bounced a ball through the infield and beat out the throw from the Pirates shortstop to get on base with one out. In the next at-bat junior Brett Sunde hit a fly ball that dropped just inside the right field foul line, scoring Hoekstra all the way from first to knot the score at 1-1.
From that point on, Seton Hall took command scoring 10 unanswered runs highlighted by a pair of two-run homers by first basemen Sal Annunziata and shortstop D.J. Ruhlman.
The Broncos scored a final run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. With Sunde on third base, freshman Mitchell Ho smacked a ball through the right side of the infield, scoring Sunde. Runners made it to first and second with two outs after senior Jordan Tillman was hit by a pitch but Caton grounded out to the shortstop to end the game.
Freshman LHP Tanner Allison was given the loss going just 1.2 innings, giving up three hits and three earned runs. The Bronco relievers of junior Derek Schneider, senior Pat Haynes and freshmen Jake Bartels, Josh Bays and Jacob Piechota threw a combined 10 strikeouts.
The Brown & Gold start Mid-American conference play next weekend, March 20-22, with a three-game series against Miami on Friday.
