Box Score MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan baseball team had runners on in all but one inning against Ball State Saturday afternoon, but that wasn't enough as the Cardinals won 7-2 at home at Ball Diamond in the first of a three-game series.
The Broncos fall to 8-18 overall and 1-3 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) while the Cardinals improved to 19-12, 5-2 in the MAC and 8-2 at home.
The Broncos took a 1-0 lead early, with a run in the top of the first inning. Junior Nick Vogelmeier, who leads the team in walks (20), drew his first walk of two on the day to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and was eventually brought in on Grant Miller's one-out squeeze bunt.
Ball State erased the early Bronco lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning and then came back to grab a 3-1 lead with two runs in the bottom of the second.
WMU cut it to 3-2 with a run in the top of the fifth inning where Steve Pastora led the inning off with a single to shortstop. After a wild pitch and a groundout, freshman Connor Smith hit a fly ball to right field, plenty deep enough to score Pastora from third.
The Brown & Gold was held scoreless in the final four innings while the Cardinals added three runs in the bottom of the seventh and one in the bottom of the eighth. WMU leadoff hitters went 5-for-9 in the game, setting the table but the Broncos struggled with runners in scoring position against the tough home Cardinal pitching staff.
Hunter Prince and Jesse Forestell each went 2-for-4 while Pastora, Smith and Vogelmeier all added a hit. Forestell extended his hitting streak to seven games with multiple base hits in four of those seven games. Prince also extended his hitting streak to seven games. Vogelmeier scored his team-leading 13th run of the season today. The Cardinals had three players with multiple base hits, including Alex Maloney who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Colin Brockhouse, who went 3-for-4 with a run.
Junior Keegan Akin (3-3) suffered the loss, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and four walks with seven strikeouts. Akin had won his previous three outings. Zach Plesac (3-1) earned the win for the Cardinals, pitching 8.0 innings allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts.
The Broncos are finishing the series with both games coming on Sunday in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Ball Diamond in Muncie, Ind. Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball for all updates about the team!
