KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team had its hands full with three-time reigning Ohio Valley Conference Champion Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, as the Redhawks took both games of the doubleheader at Hyames Field. SEMO won game one 12-6 after trailing WMU early and took game two 8-5 after stopping WMU's late comeback.
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Game three is scheduled for a noon start on Sunday, May 7 as Western Michigan President Dr. John M. Dunn will be throwing out the first pitch and Triumph the horse will be leading the team on to the field.
In game one, WMU jumped out to a 5-0 lead after five innings, but SEMO stormed back, outscoring the Broncos 12-1 in the final four innings. Kyle Mallwitz was dealing for WMU, holding the Redhawks scoreless for the first five innings as his final line read 6.0 innings, four hits, one run and six strikeouts.
WMU used a big three-run inning to jump on the Redhawks and their ace pitcher early, scoring the three runs on four hits. Connor Smith started it off with a one-out single through the left side and was driven in on Tanner Allison's RBI single to right center, making it 1-0 WMU. After a Nate Grys single, Alex Goodwin sent a tailing double to right field that score both Grys and Allison.
The Broncos added another run in the bottom of third off an RBI single by Goodwin, this time scoring Smith and making it 4-0 WMU. The Brown & Gold made it a 5-0 ball game with another run in the bottom of the fourth inning on an Andrew Stone RBI double to score Tyler Frank.
SEMO came back to score one run in the sixth, seven in the seventh, three in the eighth and one in the ninth.
The Broncos outhit SEMO 15-14, as three players had three-hit games and Goodwin/Stone each had two hits. Smith finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, Allison went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Grys went 3-for-5 with a run. Goodwin finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and Stone went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.
In game two, SEMO jumped out to a 6-0 lead before WMU plated their first run, including a four-run second inning, but the Broncos never quit, making it a two-run ball game late in the game but couldn't grab the lead.
WMU made it 6-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including Beau Filkins sending a no-doubt home run to left field to open the inning, the first of his career. Later in the inning, Grant Miller sent a single that caromed off the pitcher's leg and score Drew Devine, who reached on a double earlier in the inning.
SEMO got one run back in the top of the sixth, but the Brown & Gold put the pressure on the Redhawks with a three-run bottom of the seventh inning, making it 7-5 SEMO. Jimmy Roche drew a one-out walk to get the inning going and moved up the second on Allison's single through the right side. Grys delivered a two-run double to left center to score two and Jesse Forestell followed that with an RBI double to score Grys.
The Redhawks came back to add a big insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, making it 8-5 and WMU couldn't break through after that.
In game two, SEMO won the hit battle 13-11 as four WMU players had multi-hit games. Grys finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run while Devine went 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Miller and Allison each went 2-for-5.
Jacob Piechota suffered the loss in game one, pitching 7.0 innings allowing seven runs, five earned on 10 hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Andrew Reisinger came in to pitch the final 1.1 innings scoreless with a pair of strikeouts.
Following the final game of the SEMO series, WMU will face Michigan State on Tuesday, May 9 at 6:35 p.m. at Comerica Park in Detroit, home of the Tigers.
