KALAMAZOO, Mich. – On Saturday afternoon inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium, Western Michigan baseball scored three runs in the first three innings to defeat Butler, 4-1 and earn its first home victory of the season.

Western Michigan registered four runs on eight hits with freshman Sean O'Keefe leading the way going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Six different Broncos recorded hits on the afternoon.

Andrew Stone scored two of the four Bronco runs as the Portage, Mich. native went 1-for-5 from the plate. Freshman Blake Dunn was a spark for the Bronco offense going 1-for-5 with an RBI and one run scored.

RHP Andrew Reisinger earned his fourth win of the season out of the bullpen going 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit. Reisinger leads the Mid-American Conference in wins this season. The McHenry, Ill., native struck out three of the nine batters he faced and before the ninth inning retired six straight batters.

As a pitching staff, WMU struck out 13 Butler batters as senior LHP Jacob Piechota matched a season-high with seven K's. Piechota made his fifth start of the season on Saturday and went 4.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits. Fellow senior Jimmy Townsend-Chase recorded his third save of the year by striking out the final three batters.

WMU held Butler to just five hits, the Bulldogs' second lowest hit total of the season. The Bulldogs who are receiving votes in the latest NCWBA Top 25 poll, drop to 14-3 this season.

The Broncos improved their overall record to 9-7 and look to earn the series victory over Butler in game three on Sunday, March 18. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m.

It was a quick start for the Bronco offense as the Brown & Gold scored one run on one hit and left three on base in the first inning. Stone began the game with a single back up the middle before junior Connor Smith reached base on an error to give WMU runners on first and second with no outs.

After a sacrifice bunt by junior Jimmy Roche moved the runners over, fellow junior Jesse Forestell drew a walk to load the bases for the Broncos. One batter later, O'Keefe worked a two out walk to give WMU an early 1-0 lead.

WMU was back in the scoring column in the second inning as Smith reached first on an error by the Butler third baseman that scored junior Conner Henderson from third.

In the third inning the Broncos extended their lead as Dunn reached based on a fielding error by the Butler pitcher. After an O'Keefe single up the middle, sophomore Drew Devine was hit by a pitch to load the bases for WMU. One batter later, senior Beau Filkins scored Dunn from third on an infield single to extend the lead to 3-0.

Butler go on the board in the top of the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded to score James Gargano from third. Sophomore LHP Brandon Petersen came on in relief in the fifth and got Butler's Michael Hartnagel to fly out to centerfield to end the scoring threat.

WMU added to its lead in the bottom of the eighth as the Broncos loaded the bases with two outs after Forstell drew his second walk of the contest. Dunn delivered the next at-bat with an RBI single through the left side to give WMU a 4-1 lead.

Butler's best scoring chance of the afternoon came in the top of the ninth as the first two batters reached base for the Bulldogs. However, the comeback attempt was quickly halted as Townsend-Chase came out of the bullpen and struck out the next three batters to secure the home victory.