CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – In a rare tripleheader on Sunday the Western Michigan baseball team was swept on the road at Southeast Missouri State to open the 2019 campaign.

WMU and SEMO resumed play in game one Sunday morning after playing 8.1 innings on Saturday before play was suspended due to darkness. The Broncos dropped game one, 5-1 prior to falling in game two, 8-4 and game three, 9-8.

It was a stellar weekend at the plate for sophomore Blake Dunn who registered a batting average of .429 (6-of-14) with one home run, four RBI's and two runs scored. On the weekend, the sophomore outfielder had a staggering .643 slugging percentage.

Senior Jesse Forestell was hot as the plate as well with a .300 batting average with two home runs, five RBI's and a team-high .900 slugging percentage. The Chicago, Ill., native had just two home runs in his career prior to opening weekend.

Redshirt junior Jack Szott had a phenomenal start to the 2019 campaign in game one, throwing five scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out four. In the opening game of the 2019 season, Szott held SEMO hitless through the first four innings of play.

As a team the Broncos hit .248 with 13 runs scored and three home runs. WMU had an on-base percentage over the weekend of .306 and a slugging percentage of .347. In the field the Brown & Gold committed just one error over the weekend.

Western Michigan returns to action next weekend (Feb. 21-24) at the Mule Mix Classic in Nashville, Tenn. The Broncos will play four games in four days beginning on Thursday, Feb. 21 at Belmont. The Brown & Gold then travel to Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee State and Lipscomb.

Game One (WMU – 1, Southeast Missouri State – 5)
Western Michigan and Southeast Missouri State got through 8.1 innings on Saturday, Feb. 16 before the game was suspended due to darkness. The two teams met Sunday morning to finish the contests with the Broncos falling to the RedHawks, 5-1.

Redshirt junior Jack Szott earned the starting nod for the Broncos and was dominant on the mound throwing five innings, allowing no runs on just one hit. Szott held SEMO hitless through the first four innings of play.

SEMO got on the board first in the bottom of the sixth after a sacrifice fly scored the RedHawk runner from third with the bases loaded. It didn't take long for the Broncos to respond as senior Jesse Forestell blasted a home run over the right center field wall in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 1-1.

The RedHawks quickly regained the lead in the bottom half of the seventh after a Bronco error plated two runs. The RedHawks tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the 5-1 victory.

Game Two (WMU – 4, Southeast Missouri State – 8)
In game two, the RedHawks used a five run bottom of the eighth to defeat the Broncos, 8-4. SEMO got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI double by Tyler Wilber that got past the Bronco third baseman.

SEMO added to its lead in the bottom of the third, scoring on a two out RBI single to left center field to gain a 2-0 advantage. Prior to the RBI single, a fly out by Wilber to right field was caught by Blake Dunn who rocketed a ball to third base with the runner advancing. Despite the ball beating the runner to the bag, the runner was called safe at third as Jimmy Roche was unable to apply the tag.

Southeast Missouri State held on to a 2-0 lead until the top of the seventh when WMU loaded the bases with no outs. Sophomore Connor Charping delivered with the first run of the game for WMU with a single back up the middle that scored senior Nate Grys from third. On the next at-bat, Drew Devine hit a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Forestell and tying the game at 2-2.

After a walk by Logan Hudson to load the bases for the second time in the inning, Blake Dunn connected on a two RBI single to left field to give WMU its first lead of the weekend at 4-2. SEMO responded in the bottom half of the inning with Keegan Meyn cutting the Bronco lead down to on a one out RBI single.

WMU held a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth before SEMO scored five runs on five hits to gain an 8-4 advantage. The RedHawks regained the lead with a two RBI single by Andrew Keck followed by a three RBI double down the right field line by Connor Basler.

In the top of the ninth, Connor Marshall got on base with a two out single to left field but was stranded on the base paths as a Dunn flied out to center field the next at-bat to end the game.
 
Game Three (WMU – 8, Southeast Missouri State – 9)
It was an offensive outburst by both teams in game three, combining for 17 runs and 26 hits as WMU fell to SEMO, 9-8 in the series finale.
 
The Broncos jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after an RBI single to centerfield by Jimmy Roche scored Dunn from second. After a Grys walk, Jesse Forestell had runners on the corners with one out and hit into a sacrifice hit at the first baseman that scored Roche from third.
 
SEMO countered with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to regain the lead at 3-2. In the bottom of the second, SEMO registered a single, bunt single, double and triple. It didn't take long for the Broncos to respond as Forestell rocketed a three-run home to propel the Brown & Gold to a 5-3 lead.
 
The RedHawks began the bottom half of the third with a leadoff home run that was the first of four straight hits to load the bases trailing by one. With the bases loaded, SEMO's Wade Stauss hit into a fielder's choice, scoring the runner from third and tying the game at 5-5 after three innings of play.
 
SEMO scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth with two runs on three hits to regain the lead at 7-5. The Broncos got a run back in the top of the sixth off the bat of Drew Devine. After Forestell drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Devine delivered with an RBI single to left field to cut the WMU deficit down to one.  The RedHawks rallied in the bottom half of the inning with a two run home run to lead 9-6.
 
The Broncos cut its deficit down to one in the top of the eighth thanks to Dunn's two run, two out home run. With two quick outs to begin the inning, Andrew Stone singled to right center field with two outs before Dunn blasted his first home run of the season over the left field fence.
 
WMU's rally fell short in the top of the ninth as a strikeout followed by back-to-back groundouts secured the 9-8 victory for Southeast Missouri State.