KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Three hits in the bottom of the ninth inning including a Jesse Forestell walkoff single helped the Western Michigan baseball team to an exciting 6-5 win over Buffalo Thursday afternoon in the series opener.
 
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After Buffalo scored a run in the top of ninth to take a 5-4 lead, WMU didn't shy away against the Bulls closer. Buffalo got a strikeout to open the inning, but Connor Smith smacked a single to right center to put the pressure on. Nate Grys delivered a deep RBI double to right center to tie it up at 5-5, setting the table for Forestell, who sent a single up the middle that was bobbled by the Bulls second baseman enough to score Grys coming in from second. That set off a Bronco celebration mob at first base on Forestell after his heroics.
 
Grys, who delivered the game-tying RBI double in the ninth, finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double while Smith went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run in the three-spot. Andrew Stone went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Alex Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Tanner Allison also delivered a double. WMU pounded out 16 hits, as every one of the Bronco starters had at least one hit.
 
To open the game, WMU jumped on the Bulls early, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning off of one hit and two Bulls walks. Stone drew a one-out walk to get things going and Allison drew a walk later in the inning to put runners on first and second with two down. Grys delivered the game's first run with an RBI single up the middle to score Stone and make it 1-0 WMU.
 
The Bulls responded in the top of the second, scoring a run to tie it up 1-1 off a WMU error.
 
The Brown & Gold grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fourth inning with a pair of runs, making it a 3-1 ball game. Grant Miller led off with a single to left field and moved up to third on Alex Goodwin's double to left. Stone and Connor Smith delivered back-to-back RBI singles to put the Broncos on top.
 
Buffalo never went away, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning to tie it up again, this time at 3-3. WMU grabbed the lead once more with a run in the bottom of the sixth off a Smith RBI single to Vogelmeier, who reached on a single to third base.
 
Buffalo tied it up 4-4 in the top of the eighth and took their first lead in the top of the ninth inning, but the Broncos timely hitting erased the Bulls lead.
 
Andrew Reisinger picked up his first win in a Bronco uniform, pitching the final 0.2 innings. Kyle Mallwitz started the game and pitched the first 4.2 innings while Nic Laio pitched 2.2 innings in relief and Berman went 1.0 inning throughout the eighth and ninth.
 
The Broncos and Bulls are scheduled to play on Friday, May 19 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, May 20 at 1 p.m., but weather may be an issue for Saturday's game. Fans are encouraged to watch the Bronco Twitter account and wmubroncos.com for updated on game times.