MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team fell 3-1 to Central Michigan in its final regular season game of the 2016 campaign. The Broncos outhit the Chippewas 7-5, but could not find a way to get a key hit.

WMU ends the season with a record of 18-31 and 11-13 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) while the streak of four straight MAC series wins was snapped today. This is the first time in over a month that the Broncos have dropped two games in a row. The Broncos will enter the MAC Tournament this week as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 Ball State on Wednesday, May 25 at 1 p.m. in Avon, Ohio. The Cardinals won all three of the games this season against the Broncos.

CMU scored three unanswered before the Broncos scored their lone run in the top of the sixth inning. The Chippewas scored a run in the bottom of the second inning with the help of a WMU error and a couple of hits. Later, CMU added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after a couple of walks came in to score on a two-out double.

In the top of the sixth inning, freshman Connor Smith, who finished second in the MAC in batting average at .441, started off with a single to shortstop and was brought in on sophomore Tanner Allison's RBI double to left center to make it 3-1.

WMU brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, as freshman Jesse Forestell led off with a walk and sophomore Evan Nelson hit a one-out single to right field to put runners at first and second. Both runners moved up on a groundout, but a groundout to third base ended the threat.

The Broncos used five different pitchers in the ball game, as senior Pat Haynes started the game and threw a scoreless inning. Sophomore Jacob Piechota and junior Kyle Mallwitz each pitched a scoreless inning while sophomore Jake Bartels pitched 1.2 scoreless and freshman Matt McConell got the final out in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Broncos bullpen allowed just one hit in the final four innings.

Senior Hunter Prince stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a modest eight games with multiple hits in five of his last six games. Allison went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while Nelson went 2-for-4 and Smith went 1-for-4.

Follow the Broncos on Twitter @WMUBaseball for all updates about the team!