EAST LANSING, Mich. – In midweek action on Wednesday, the Western Michigan baseball team held Michigan State to just five hits but fell in a tight contest against the Spartans, 3-2 inside McLane Baseball Stadium.  

The Broncos outhit the Spartans, 9-5 with three Broncos' recording multi-hit games. WMU used six different pitchers on the afternoon, striking out four Spartan batters. Defensively, the Broncos committed just one error compared to Michigan States' three.

Western Michigan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second before Michigan State rallied for one run in the bottom half of the inning. The Spartans tied the game up at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth before scoring one more run in the bottom of the eighth to gain the lead.

In the top of the ninth the Broncos looked to generate a rally, posting runners on first and third with one out. The ninth-inning comeback fell short for the Brown & Gold as a pop-up followed by a fielders' choice ended the scoring threat.
Leading the Broncos at the plate was sophomore Cooper Marshall who went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Marshall registered his third multi-hit game of the season and improved his RBI total to 11.

Joining Marshall with double digit hits was junior Drew Devine and sophomore Blake Dunn. Devine went 2-for-5 with an RBI while Dunn went 2-for-4 in the lead-off spot. Devine captured his seventh multi-hit game of the season while Dunn collected his team leading 13th. Dunn also extended his reached base streak to a staggering 23 straight games.

On the mound the Broncos got a stellar performance out of the bullpen from redshirt junior Will Mullen. The Rochester, Mich., native threw 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in 12 batters faced. Mullen at one point retired nine straight batters from the third inning to the sixth inning.

WMU will have a quick turnaround as the Broncos travel to Mid-American Conference foe Toledo for a three-game series, March 29-31. Western Michigan currently sits with an overall record of 6-17, 0-3 in MAC play.
The Broncos got on the board first in the top of the second scoring two runs on three hits. Senior Nate Grys led off the inning with a double to right center field before Marshall laced an RBI single back up the middle to give WMU an early 1-0 lead.

Following a throwing error and a walk by redshirt senior Andrew Stone, WMU had runners on the corners two outs prior to Devine stepping into the batter's box. The Marshall, Mich., native delivered with a two out RBI single to centerfield, scoring Stone form third to extend WMU's lead to 2-0.

Michigan State quickly answered in the bottom of the second, scoring on a bunt back to the pitcher with its runner at third charging for home. WMU held a one-run advantage until the bottom of the sixth before Michigan State tied the game at 2-2 after a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Spartans gained their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth, capitalizing on a one out bases loaded sacrifice fly to left field to pull ahead, 3-2.

In the top of the ninth, senior Jimmy Roche got the Bronco offense started with a single to left field followed by a sacrifice bunt to move Roche into scoring position. Freshman Sean O'Keefe roped a single to centerfield on an 0-1 count to give the Broncos runners at the corners.

However, Michigan State halted the comeback attempt as a pop-up to the shortstop followed by a fielder's choice force out at second base ended the scoring threat.