ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Against one of the nation's best pitching staffs the Western Michigan baseball team posted five runs on six hits and gained an early lead before falling to No.23 Michigan, 12-5 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Broncos scored five runs on the Wolverines who came into the contest with the eighth best team ERA in the NCAA. The five runs scored by the Broncos is tied for the second most given up by Michigan this season.
WMU had six different players register a hit on Tuesday with five registering a RBI and a run scored. At the top of the line-up, senior
Andrew Stone went 1-for-3 with a run scored and one RBI. Fellow senior
Nate Grys went 0-for-1 at the plate but drew two walks and earned an RBI and a run scored.
In the eighth and ninth spot in the line-up the sophomore duo of
Sean O'Keefe and
Justin McIntyre combined to go 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored. McIntyre registered his only hit with a double down the right field line in the top of the third inning.
On the mound the Broncos used six different pitchers to strike out nine Michigan batters. Senior LHP
Matt McConnell in relief threw 1.1 innings and struck out four in nine batters faced. Redshirt junior
Jack Szott and freshman
Dane Ambrustmacher added to the strikeout total with two apiece.
Western Michigan with an overall record of 6-13 with return home for its Mid-American Conference series opener at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field, March 22-24 versus Ball State. First pitch for game one against the Cardinals is set for 3:05 p.m.
The nationally ranked Wolverines grabbed an early lead in the bottom of the first as a fielding error resulted in two runs to cross home plate. After scoring both runs, Szott settled in on the mound and struck out the next two batters to limit the Michigan lead to 2-0.
WMU's offense came to life in the top of the third scoring three runs on three hits to gain its only lead of the ballgame. After a groundout followed by a walk by O'Keefe,
Justin McIntyre laced a double down the right field line to give the Brown & Gold runners on second and third with one out.
On the next pitch, Stone laid down a perfect bunt to reach first towards the Michigan second baseman and plated O'Keefe for the Broncos first run of the game. Sophomore
Blake Dunn was hit by a pitch to load the bases for WMU prior to senior
Jimmy Roche rocketing a single to left field to tie the game at 2-2.
With the bases loaded and one out,
Nate Grys drew a four-pitch walk to bring around the go-ahead run and give WMU a 3-2 lead. A strikeout followed by a fielder's choice ended the strong top of the third for the Broncos.
Holding a 3-2 lead, Michigan responded quickly with a two RBI single to left field to regain a 4-3 advantage. The Wolverines added to their lead with three runs in the fourth followed by five runs in the sixth to lead 12-3 through seven innings.
WMU got on the scoreboard once again in the top of the eighth as sophomore
Ryan Missal connected on an RBI single to left center field scoring senior
Cooper Marshall from second to cut into the Michigan lead. Two batters later the bases were loaded with one out for O'Keefe who delivered with an RBI single to left field to cut WMU's deficit down to 12-5.
In the ninth, the Broncos went down in order to secure the 12-5 victory for No. 23 Michigan. With the win, the Wolverines won their fifth straight contest and move to 14-4 on the season.
