ROCHESTER, Mich. – In a midweek nonconference game against Oakland, the Western Michigan baseball team fell 8-4 to the Grizzlies at the Oakland Baseball Field Wednesday night.

The Broncos fall to 15-28 overall while the Grizzlies improved to 21-22 with the win. Freshman Connor Smith continued his impressive stretch at the plate, going 2-for-5 with an RBI. He is now batting .491 (26-for-53) in his last 12 games. He now has nine multiple hit games in his last 12 overall.

The Grizzlies offense got rolling early and took a lead they would not surrender, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning off of three hits and three walks.

The Broncos cut it to a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the third and another run in the top of the fourth. In the third, sophomore Tanner Allison led off with a double down the left field line and he advanced the third on Nick Vogelmeier's fielder's choice but Vogelmeier reached first safely. Smith then hit into a fielder's choice to plate Allison and make it 4-1 Oakland. Later in the inning, Grant Miller drew a two-out walk and senior Hunter Prince singled to center field. Sophomore Evan Nelson came up with an RBI single to right field to score Miller and make it 4-2 Grizzlies.

The Broncos made it a one-run game with a run in the top of the fourth after they capitalized on an Oakland error. Freshman Jesse Forestell reached on a throwing error by the third baseman and advanced up to second base. After a groundout, Vogelmeier singled the third base to score Forestell and make it 4-3.

Oakland got those runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning, putting up a three-spot off of five singles, all of which were singles. The Grizzlies also added a run in the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the eighth.

The Broncos scored one run in the top of the eighth inning with the help of Nelson's second double and third hit of the day. Nelson hit a one-out double to right center, advanced to third on a passed ball and came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 8-4 Oakland.

WMU was outhit 12-9 in the ball game, but did not commit an error. Nelson finished 3-for-4 with a run, two doubles and an RBI while Vogelmeier went 2-for-5 with an RBI. The Broncos used eight different pitchers in the game, as senior Derek Schneider and freshman Chris Modrzynski each threw a scoreless inning.

The Broncos finish out their home MAC season with a three-game series against Ohio this weekend. Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball for all updates about the team!