MUNCIE, Ind. – In its series finale Western Michigan baseball and Ball State combined for 35 runs and 43 hits as the Broncos dropped a slugfest against the Cardinals, 20-15 on Sunday afternoon.
The Broncos scored 15 runs on 15 hits in the series finale marking the fifth time this season the Brown & Gold have scored double digit runs. WMU scored 12 of its 15 runs in the final two innings including eight runs on seven hits in the bottom of the ninth.
WMU had five players register multi-hit games with four having multi-RBI games. Overall the Broncos had seven different players earn a hit and recorded its third game this season with at least three home runs.
Leading the Broncos at the plate was sophomore
Blake Dunn who went 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs. Dunn on an 0-2 count crushed his fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth. The Saugatuck, Mich., native registered his fifth multi-RBI game of the season and extended his reached base streak to 22 straight games.
Senior
Cooper Marshall had a day at the plate as well going 3-for-5 and hit his first home run of the season with a two run home run to get the Broncos on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Marshall had a team-high four RBIs on the day along with two runs scored and one walk. It was Marshall's second multi-RBI game of the season.
Sophomore
Justin McIntyre connected on his first career home run in the bottom of the eighth to highlight a 2-for-3 day at the plate with three RBIs and a team-high four runs scored. McIntyre set a new career-high with four runs scored along with a career-high three RBIs.
Fellow sophomore
Logan Hudson provided a spark at the plate for the Broncos going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Sophomore
Connor Charping also generated multi-hits with a 2-for-5 performance at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored.
WMU's 15-hit performance was the most by the Broncos since accumulating 17 in game one of its three game series at North Florida back on March 8. With the slugfest defeat the Broncos now have an overall record of 6-16 and 0-3 in Mid-American Conference play.
The Broncos will resume play in midweek non-conference action on Wednesday, March 27 at Michigan State. WMU will once again hit the road next weekend, March 29-31 for a three-game series with MAC foe Toledo.
For the third straight game the Cardinals got on the board first after an RBI double off the left field wall brought around the first run of the ballgame. Ball State extended its lead to 4-0 after scoring three runs on five hits in the top of the third.
WMU responded in the bottom half of the inning as McIntyre led off the inning with a single before a fly out brought
Cooper Marshall to the plate with one out. On a 2-1 count
Marshall belted his first home run of the season over the left field wall to slim Ball State's lead down to 4-2 after three.
Ball State propelled its lead to 6-2 in the top of the fifth scoring two runs on three hits. WMU once again struck back in the bottom of the fifth thanks to the bat of
Blake Dunn.
After the Brown & Gold placed runners on first and second with one out, Dunn rocketed a ball back up the middle, scoring McIntyre from second to trail 6-3 after five innings of play.
The Cardinal offense came to life over the next three innings of play scoring four runs in the sixth, seven runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to gain a 20-3 advantage.
Despite the margin the Bronco offense gained momentum in the bottom of the eighth scoring four runs on four hits to cut into the Ball State lead. The inning got started off with a bang as Dunn on a 2-0 count roped a home run down the left field line for his fourth of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth after back-to-back singles had runners on first and second with two outs for WMU,
Justin McIntyre connected on a three-run home to left field to slim its deficit down to 20-7 heading into the final inning.
The Broncos kept their offensive momentum in the bottom of the ninth scoring eight runs on seven hits with all eight runs being scored with two outs. Sophomore
Ryan Missal got the scoring started for WMU with an RBI single in the infield to score
Ethan Hajdukovic from third.
With runners on the corners,
Logan Hudson delivered a two RBI triple that bounced off the right center field wall to give the Broncos their ninth and tenth runs of the ballgame.
In the next at-bat,
Connor Charping hit the first ball he saw to left field, scoring Forestell from third to cut Ball State's lead down to 20-11.
After the RBI single from Charping, the Broncos loaded the bases thanks to a McIntyre walk followed by a hit by pitch. With the bases loaded,
Cooper Marshall roped a two
RBI single to right field to slim the Broncos' deficit down to just seven.
The next two at-bats saw Broncos cross the plate as
Ethan Hajdukovic came through with an RBI single followed by an RBI double from Dunn. WMU's late inning rally fell short the next at-bat as a pop-up to the Ball Sate shortstop with runners on second and third ended the scoring threat and secured the 20-15 victory for the Cardinals.
