KALAMAZOO, Mich. – In the series finale, Western Michigan baseball fell to Butler, 13-3 on Sunday afternoon inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium.

WMU had six different batters record a hit against the Bulldogs with junior Connor Smith leading the way at the plate going 2-for-3. On the weekend, Smith hit .300 with one RBI and had an on-base percentage of .417. Fellow junior Jimmy Roche brought in two of the three Bronco runs on the afternoon, going 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk.  

The Brown & Gold saw nine different pitchers take the mound against Butler, resulting in 10 strikeouts. It's the second straight game the Broncos have had double digit strikeouts. In relief, freshman RHP Jack Huisman pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two hits while striking out a career-high three batters.

On the weekend the WMU pitching staff accumulated 30 strikeouts and held Butler to just a .283 batting average. Defensively the Broncos registered a .991 fielding percentage, committing just one error in the three-game series.

Western Michigan hits the road for its next contest, traveling to Ann Arbor on Wednesday, March 21 for a match-up with Big Ten Conference powerhouse Michigan at 4:00 p.m. WMU returns home March 23-25 for its first Mid-American Conference series against Toledo.

For the second straight game the Broncos got on the board first recording two runs on one hit in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Stone led off the inning with a walk before freshman Blake Dunn advanced Stone to second on a sacrifice bunt. Junior Jesse Forestell worked a two out walk a batter late to give WMU runners on first and second.  

WMU got on the board thanks to a two RBI double by junior Jimmy Roche that reached the center field wall past the diving Butler defender. Roche's first double of the season gave WMU a 2-0 lead after one inning.
 
Butler responded quickly scoring two runs on one hit in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2. The Bulldogs gained the lead in the top of the third with three runs on three hits as Butler recorded two doubles and a triple in the inning.
 
The Bulldogs scored two in the fourth and three in the fifth to extend their lead to 10-2 after five innings of play.
 
WMU threatened to score in the bottom of the sixth as freshman Sean O'Keefe led off the inning with a double to right center field. The Broncos got runners on first and second with one out before a strikeout and a ground out ending the scoring threat.
 
In the seventh, Dunn led off the inning with a single to right field before Smith drew a walk to give WMU runners on first and second with nobody out. After Butler made a pitching change, the Bronco offense was held stagnant stranding runners at first and second.
 
Butler scored three runs in the top of the ninth off the bat of Tyler Houston who hit a three-run home run over the right field wall to extend the Bulldog lead.
 
The Broncos gained a run in the bottom of the ninth as sophomore Ethan Hajdukovic began the inning with a single to right field. Hajdukovic then advanced to third base on back to back wild pitches before coming around to score on the third wild pitch of the inning. After Roche drew a walk with two outs, a groundout ended the game as WMU dropped the series finale to Butler, 13-3.