ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In a game that nearly lasted four hours it all came down to the final inning as Western Michigan baseball gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to fall to Michigan, 7-6 on Wednesday inside Ray Fisher Stadium.

The Broncos scored six runs on six hits with all six runs for the Brown & Gold coming in the first two innings. Junior Connor Smith continued to stay hot at the plate for the Broncos on Wednesday, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. In the past two games, Smith is hitting .571.

Five different Broncos registered hits against the Wolverines while juniors Jesse Forestell, Jimmy Roche and Smith and freshman Sean O'Keefe and Blake Dunn each recorded RBIs. WMU used eight different pitchers against Michigan, registering seven strikeouts.

With the loss, Western Michigan drops its overall record to 9-9. The Broncos begin Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Toledo inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium.

The Broncos opened up the game with a flurry of runs without registering a hit as WMU quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. WMU loaded the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch to bring Forestell to the plate with no outs.

Forestell drew a walk to get the Broncos on the board before a Roche sacrifice fly to right field extended the WMU lead to 2-0. With a runner on third and one out, O'Keefe lined out to left field that scored the runner from third and extended the Bronco lead.

After facing just four batters in the bottom of the first, the Bronco offense got right back to work in the top of the second registering three runs on two hits. Senior Andrew Stone recorded a walk before moving to third on back-to-back wild pitches while Dunn was at the plate. Dunn collected the first hit of the ballgame for WMU with a single back up the middle, scoring Stone to give WMU a 4-0 lead.

With a runner on first and one out, Connor Smith laced a double all the way to the right field wall that scored Dunn from first and grew the Bronco lead. Smith advanced to third on the throw home before scoring moments later on a wild pitch. After two innings of play, WMU led 6-0.

Michigan cut into the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs on four hits. The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out before collecting three straight singles to slim the WMU lead to 6-2. Two batters later, Michigan's Christian Bullock laced a two RBI double to right field and cut WMU's lead to one run after three innings.

Western Michigan held the lead heading into the bottom of the ninth until Michigan's Miles Lewis tied the game on a shallow single to centerfield with two outs. After a walk loaded the bases for the Wolverines, second baseman Ako Thomas delivered a two out walk-off single back up the middle to give Michigan a 7-6 victory.