KENT, Ohio – In a game that featured five lead changes, the Western Michigan baseball team fell on the road to Kent State 9-7 Saturday afternoon at Schoonover Field.

The Broncos fall to 8-16 overall and 1-1 in the MAC while the Golden Flashes improve to 18-8 and 3-2 in the MAC.

The Broncos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first off a pair of hits and a walk. Junior Nick Vogelmeier led the inning off with a double to left center field and sophomore Evan Nelson drew a two-out walk to put runners on first and second. Senior Hunter Prince, who jacked a two-run home run in Friday's game, singled up the middle to score Vogelmeier.

KSU came back to grab the lead off starting pitcher Pat Haynes, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off a double, triple and a walk. The Golden Flashes extended the lead to 3-1 with another run in the bottom of the second.

The Broncos offense stayed hot however, scoring two runs in the top of the third inning to tie it at 3-3. Vogelmeier walked to lead off the inning and stole second base, his fourth stolen base of the season. With two outs, Nelson smacked a double to right center field to score Vogelmeier and was driven in on Princes' RBI single up the middle.

The Golden Flashes, who put their leadoff runner on base in the first five innings, again grabbed the lead with a run in the bottom of the third inning to make it 4-3 and added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend it to 5-3.

The Broncos offense was relentless, scoring three runs in the top of the sixth inning to come back and tie it at 6-6. Nelson led the inning off with a single through the right side and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He was brought in on Jesse Forestell's RBI single, who advanced to third on Steve Pastora's double. Senior Mitchell Ho came up with a clutch at-bat, drilling a two-run double over the left fielder's head to score Forestell and Pastora.

WMU grabbed a 7-6 lead with a run in the top of the seventh inning off another Forestell hit; this one being an RBI single to shortstop to score Grant Miller, who was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off. KSU ended the game with three unanswered runs including two in the bottom of the seventh inning and another in the bottom of the eighth.

Three Broncos finished with two hits as Nelson went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and an RBI, Prince went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Forestell finished 2-for-5 with two RBI. Vogelmeier went 1-for-3 with two runs, a double and drew two walks. Ho went 1-for-3 with the big two-run double to left field.

The Golden Flashes had two players with multiple hits including Dylan Rosa, who went 3-for-3 and finished a single short of the cycle with three RBI.

Jacob Piechota (3-2) suffered the loss as the Broncos used five different pitchers in the game. Jake Bartels pitched 3.2 innings allowing one run on four hits to go along with four strikeouts. 

WMU will look to take the series as the two teams meet on Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m. at Schoonover Field. Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball for all updates about the team!