TOLEDO, Ohio – With major help from the bat of freshman Connor Smith, the Western Michigan baseball team's offense exploded Saturday afternoon as the Broncos defeated Toledo 10-2 at Scott Park Complex to claim their second straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) series win.

Smith finished 5-for-6 with a double, a run and four RBI to help WMU improve to 13-25 overall and 6-8 in the MAC. The Broncos have now won four of their last five games.

The offense was hot early, scoring three runs in the top of the second inning to grab hold of the game's momentum. Junior Alex Goodwin led the inning off with a single to left field and freshman Nate Grys followed that with a single of his own. After a fielder's choice, Mitchell Ho laid a bunt down and reached on a throwing error by the pitcher that also allowed Goodwin to score and make it 1-0 WMU. Junior Nick Vogelmeier, who leads the team in walks, drew a base on balls to load the bases for freshman Connor Smith, who ripped a single to right field to score Pastora and make it 2-0 WMU. The Broncos scored the final run of the inning when junior Grant Miller hit an RBI groundout to shortstop to score Ho.

The Brown & Gold added onto the lead with three more runs each in the top of the fourth and top of the fifth innings. Smith drilled an RBI double, senior Hunter Prince hit an RBI single and freshman Jesse Forestell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to make it 6-0 WMU.

In the top of the fifth, Vogelmeier hit an RBI groundout with the bases and Smith continued his hot hitting with a two-run single up the middle to make it 9-0 WMU.

After the Rockets were able to tack on two runs in the bottom of the seventh, WMU added one last insurance run in the top of the ninth inning as Miller drove in Ho on an RBI single up the middle and make it 10-2 WMU.

Freshman Jack Szott had a great outing for WMU, pitching 6.1 innings allowing seven hits and two runs with one strikeout as he earned his first career win for the Broncos. Junior Kyle Mallwitz threw a scoreless 2.2 innings to finish out the game.

The offense pounded out 16 hits, four doubles and drew five walks against the Rockets pitching staff. Along with Smith's big day, Miller finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, Grys went 2-for-5 with a double and a run and Pastora went 2-for-5 with a double. Ho finished 2-for-3 with four runs and an RBI. Prince, Forestell and Goodwin all added a hit as well.

The Broncos and Rockets will finish out the series on Sunday, May 1 with game time scheduled for 1 p.m. Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball for all updates about the team!