KENNESAW, Ga. – The Western Michigan Bronco baseball team played its season opener on Friday afternoon, falling to Kennesaw State, 17-4, in Kennesaw, Ga., in the first game of the Atlanta Challenge.

"Kennesaw State is a very good offensive team and are reigning Atlantic Sun champs for a reason," head coach Billy Gernon said. "They hit every mistake and beat us with the long ball. Their starter Tony DiBrell throws 92-95 mph and is coming off a stellar summer in the Cape Cod league. We worked some very good at bats off of him. I thought we had a lot of very positive things to take away from this game although the score ended up clearly lopsided."

WMU scored its first three runs of the season in the sixth inning when the first three batters reached base. Evan Nelson led off the inning with a single and came around to score the first run of the day after Tanner Allison hit a ball to the second baseman which was mishandled. Alex Goodwin then had his second double of the day to drive in two more runs.

Goodwin nearly equaled his double total from all of last year in one day, after having just three doubles last season. As a team, the Broncos ended the day with eight hits, four of which were doubles. The four doubles also equal the most in any game the team had last season.

The Broncos put together their first rally in the top of the third when the No. 9 hole hitter Goodwin led off the inning with a double to left-center. With one out he advanced to third base on a passed ball. Following back-to-back walks the bases were loaded. Unfortunately, Kennesaw State was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout and a flyout to left to end the threat.

Along with Goodwin, who finished the day 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, one of the top players of the day for the Broncos was Beau Filkins who missed the 2016 season recovering from health issues. He had a double in his first plate appearance before drawing a walk in his second. He finished the day 1-for-2.

Kennesaw State scored its first three runs with two outs, all via the same batter. In the first inning the Owls cleanup hitter Austin Upshaw hit a two-out double to score a runner from second. Two innings later Upshaw struck again, hitting a home run to right-center. Right after it became 3-0, KSU followed up with another home run by Forrest Brammlet, which was the second of six consecutive runners to reach base, as Kennesaw ended the inning with a 6-0 advantage.

The Owls added to the damage in the bottom of the fourth as the first four batters reached base. KSU capped the inning with a grand slam, its third home run of the day. Kennesaw had another rally in the fifth inning, tacking on another four runs. KSU scored at least one run in five of the first six innings before the Bronco bullpen was able to limit the damage in the final third of the game.

Western Michigan will continue the Atlanta Challenge Saturday afternoon when it heads over to Georgia State to play the Panthers at 2 p.m. The Broncos are scheduled to start Andrew Reisinger who will be making his WMU debut after going 10-1 for McHenry County College.