KALAMAZOO, Mich. – For the fifth straight season at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament, the defending champions will not be repeating as the Western Michigan baseball team fell 12-6 to Eastern Michigan Friday afternoon at Sprenger Stadium. Nate Grys had a big day at the plate for the Broncos, as the sophomore finished 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI.
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The Broncos will end the 2017 season 24-29 overall and pushed their streak of winning at least one game in the MAC Tournament to four years after defeating Eastern Michigan in the opening game on Wednesday.
The Broncos, who finished the regular season ranked 18th in batting average in the NCAA, were held in check in the early going, as the Eagles had a no-hitter going through the first 4.2 innings. With the Eagles up 4-0 after a run in the first inning and a three-spot in the second, the Broncos were able to load the bases on a leadoff walk and back-to-back players hit by the pitch in the top of the fourth. An unlucky liner right back to the pitcher and two straight flyouts ended the crucial WMU threat.
After a five-run bottom of the fourth inning for EMU, Grys broke up the no-hitter and shutout with a two-run blast to left center, his fifth of the season and second of the MAC Tournament.
EMU stayed hot offensively, plating three more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to push the lead to 12-2 Eagles.
Grys sent his second home run of the game to left field to lead off the top of the eighth inning, making it a 12-3 ball game on Grys' sixth of the season and third of the tournament.
The Broncos battled in the ninth inning, as the team plated three runs on five hits. Tyler Frank and Nick Vogelmeier led off with back-to-back singles and Connor Smith brought in Frank on an RBI single to right field. Following Smith, Tanner Allison, the 2017 MAC Player of the Year, hit a two-run double to left-center to make it a 12-6 ball game.
The Broncos used five pitchers in the game, as Jimmy Townsend-Chase suffered the loss. Gabe Berman and Jake Bartels were each credited with a scoreless inning. Zach Mehelich pitched 3.0 innings with five strikeouts.
Offensively after Grys going 2-for-4 with the two home runs and three RBI, Vogelmeier finished 2-for-4 with a run, Smith went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Allison went 1-for-5 with the two-run double.
Bronco baseball would like to thank the six seniors on the 2017 ball team, Grant Miller, Alex Goodwin, Grant Miller, Tyler Frank, Kyle Mallwitz and Gabe Berman for their amazing contributions to the program and University over the last four years.
