MUNCIE, Ind.  –  On a rainy Friday afternoon at First Merchants Ballpark in Muncie, Ind., Western Michigan baseball produced just one run on two hits as the Broncos dropped game two to Ball State, 7-1.

Junior Connor Smith registered both hits for the Broncos and drove in the lone run of the game as the Midland, Mich., native went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Smith now has a team-high 19 multi-hit games this season and extended his hitting streak to four games.

Redshirt freshman Logan Hudson was the lone Bronco to cross home plate against the Cardinals. Hudson drew a walk to lead off the top of the fifth before scoring a run on the Smith RBI single. Hudson at the plate went 0-for-2 with a walk and extended his reached base streak to 13 games.

WMU matched its season-low in hits and snapped its 31 game streak of registering two or more hits in a game. It was just the ninth time this season the Brown & Gold have been held to one run or less.

Each of the three Bronco pitchers that hit the mound on Friday went 2.2 innings, combining to strike out eight Ball State batters. In relief, redshirt sophomore Jack Szott stifled the Cardinal offense, allowing no runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Relieving Szott, junior LHP Matt McConnell gave up just two hits and no runs while striking out one in 10 batters faced.

Making his fifth start of the year, junior LHP Chris Modrzynski went 2.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on six this while striking out three. Ball State starter Drey Jameson earned his seventh victory of the season going six innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out seven.

With the loss, WMU now has an overall record of 23-24 and 12-12 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos and Cardinals will wrap up their series on Saturday, May 19 with first pitch set for 11:00 a.m. Western Michigan will look to secure a spot in the MAC Tournament for the fifth straight year on the final day of the regular season.

It was a quick start for Ball State as the Cardinals scored three in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead into the fifth inning.

The Broncos got on the board in the fifth thanks to back-to-back walks by Logan Hudson and sophomore Drew Devine to lead off the inning. A perfect sacrifice bunt by junior Conner Henderson moved the runners to second and third with one out.

After a strikeout, Connor Smith stepped to the plate with a scoring opportunity and delivered with an RBI single back up the middle on an 0-2 count to give the Broncos their first run of the game. The WMU rally was halted three pitches later as a fly out ended the inning.

Ball State held a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth before scoring two runs on one hit to increase their lead. After a 10-minute rain delay in the inning, the Cardinals drew a bases loaded walk for their sixth run of the game before a sacrifice fly extended the Ball State lead to six.   

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Smith earned his second hit of the afternoon down the left field line before a fly out ended the inning for the Broncos. The final seven Bronco bats were retired as Ball State tied the series with the 7-1 victory.