KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Inside historic Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field on Wednesday, the Western Michigan baseball team had a historic performance against Northwestern, scoring 26 runs with 15 coming in the fourth inning to cruise past the Wildcats, 26-15.
The 26 runs for the Broncos was two shy of the single game program record of 28 set back in 1988 against Notre Dame. The 15-run fourth inning was the second most runs scored in a single inning in school history and was six shy of the NCAA record.
It was the most runs WMU has scored in the
Billy Gernon era and the third time since 2008 that the Brown & Gold have eclipsed 20 or more runs. Every Bronco in the starting line-up registered a hit on Wednesday as the Broncos totaled a season-high 21 hits.
Junior
Nate Grys had a stellar day at the plate going 3-for-5 with two home runs, three runs scored and seven RBIs. Grys had two home runs on the day including a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth. The junior outfielder leads the Broncos with seven home runs. With seven RBI's, Grys was two shy of the program record set by Fred Michalski back in 1963.
Junior
Connor Smith collected his fifth career home run in the 15-run fourth inning as the Midland, Mich., native went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and four RBIs. Fellow junior
Jimmy Roche connected on his second career home run in the fourth inning as Roche went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and four runs scored.
Second baseman
Drew Devine registered his eighth multi-hit and third multi-RBI game of the season against Northwestern, going 4-for-5 with a double, four RBI's and three runs scored. At the plate, junior
Jesse Forestell went 4-for-6 with a double, four runs scored and two RBIs. It was Forestell's fifth multi-RBI and ninth multi-hit game of the year.
Overall, nine different Broncos registered a hit while seven Broncos had an RBI against Northwestern.
With the victory, WMU secured its sixth win over an opponent from the Big Ten Conference since 2013 and was the second this season. The Brown & Gold defeated Michigan State, 6-1 on March 28. WMU improves its overall record to 19-19 and is 8-8 in MAC play. The Broncos host Miami, May 4-6 for their final home stand of the season.
WMU trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the fourth before exploding for 15 runs on eight hits including two home runs. The Brown & Gold tied the game thanks to an RBI single to center field by redshirt junior
Andrew Stone.
Two pitches later, Roche hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Devine from third to give WMU a 6-5 lead. After an error by the Northwestern second baseman and a wild pitch plated two for the Broncos, a walk by Grys loaded the bases for redshirt freshman
Logan Hudson. Hudson delivered on a 2-2 count with a single through the left side to extend WMU's lead to 9-5.
After a bases clearing double two RBI double by Devine expanded the WMU lead,
Connor Smith blasted a ball straight to center field for a two-run home run, giving the Brown & Gold a steady 14-5 lead.
Four batters later, the bases were loaded again with two outs for
Nate Grys who rocketed a grand slam off the left field foul pole to give WMU an 18-5 lead. The Broncos scored one more run in the inning off the bat of
Logan Hudson to plate 15 runs overall.
Northwestern scored six runs on six hits in the top of the fifth to cut into the WMU lead but the Broncos responded quickly with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth. Grys singled up the middle with no outs in the sixth to score WMU's 20
th run of the game before Devine once again roped one-out two-RBI single to right field to give the Broncos a 23-12 lead.
In the sixth, 12 Broncos came to the plate, scoring seven runs on six hits to hold a commanding 26-12 lead. The Wildcats scored two in the seventh and one in the ninth as the Broncos defeated Northwestern for the first time since 2013.
Northwestern scored 15 runs on 17 hits, scoring in eight of the nine innings. WMU plated runs in four of the eight innings at-bat. Of the 21 hits for WMU, eight were for extra-bases.
