PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – It was an offensive outburst for Western Michigan baseball in its doubleheader sweep on Tuesday at the Snowbird Classic scoring 19 runs on 26 hits to defeat St. Bonaventure, 8-3 and Villanova, 11-2.

In the two games the Broncos hit a staggering .338 with an on-base percentage of .457 and slugging percentage of .442. WMU had seven players hit over .300 on the day while junior Drew Devine led the team with five RBIs.

The pitching staff shined on the mound for WMU registering a 1.50 ERA, allowing just five runs on 14 hits while striking out 22 batters. The Broncos had five different pitchers with at least three strikeouts as Freshman Brady Miller led the way with a career-high four strikeouts against St. Bonaventure.

With the doubleheader sweep Western Michigan improved its overall record to 3-8 and will be back in action on Wednesday, March 6 at the Snowbird Classic against Georgetown. Following its contest with the Hoyas, WMU will square off with North Florida in a three-game series, March 8-9.

Game One vs. St. Bonaventure (WMU – 8, St. Bonaventure – 3)
Guided by powerful performances on the mound and at the plate the Western Michigan baseball  team captured an 8-3 victory over St. Bonaventure to begin the Snowbird Classic on Tuesday morning.

The Bronco offense was led by senior Jesse Forestell who went 1-for-3 at the plate with a home run, one runs scored, three RBIs and three walks. Forestell registered his third home run of the season, a three run shot in the sixth inning to break the tie and give WMU a 6-3 lead.

Junior Drew Devine continued his stellar play at the plate going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Sophomore Justin McIntyre and Blake Dunn collected multi-hit games with McIntyre going 2-of-4 with a run scored while Dunn went 2-of-4 with two runs scored.

WMU was dominant on the mound against the Bonnies giving up just one earned run on eight hits while striking out 11. In his third start of the season freshman RHP Brady Miller threw four innings allowing two runs (0 ER) on three hits and striking out a career-high four batters. Junior RHP Zach Mehelich earned his first victory of the season going 3.1 innings giving up one run on three hits while striking out four.

Freshman Dan Ambrustmacher threw the final 1.2 innings allowing no runs on two hits while striking out three of the seven batters he faced to secure the 8-3 victory.

The Brown & Gold grabbed an early lead thanks to one run in the second and two in the third to take a 3-0 lead. To lead off the top of the second, senior Nate Grys double to give the Broncos a runner in scoring position with no outs. After back-to-back fly outs moved Grys to third, Devine delivered with an RBI single for the first run of the ballgame.

In the top of the third the Broncos tallied just one hit but drew four walks to score two runs and gain the early advantage. With the bases loaded and one out, Forestell was hit by a pitch that scored fellow senior Conner Henderson from third. In the next at-bat, redshirt sophomore Logan Hudson roped an RBI single, scoring redshirt senior Andrew Stone.

St. Bonaventure tied the game in the next two innings scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the sixth.

In the sixth the Broncos scored four runs on three hits to regain the lead highlighted by a three-run home run from Forestell. WMU tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth to propel WMU to its second win of the season. In the ninth with runners on first and second, senior Cooper Marshall grounded into a fielder's choice that scored the hustling Dunn from second base.

Game Two (WMU – 11, Villanova – 2)
In the second game of the day the Bronco offense picked up where it left off, racking up 11 runs on 13 hits in an 11-2 victory over Villanova to sweep their doubleheader on Tuesday at the Snowbird Classic.

WMU's 13 hits marked the second most in a game this season while the 11 runs was second, only trailing the 17 scored at Lipscomb two weekends ago.
 
Sophomore Blake Dunn continued his blazing start to the season, knocking in two runs, while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Along with Dunn in the middle of the line-up, senior Nate Grys sparked the offense going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
 
Junior shortstop Drew Devine also had himself a day at the plate against Villanova. The Marshall, Mich. native went 3-for-4 at the plate, recording two doubles, and three RBI's.
 
Holland, Mich. Native Jack Huisman came in relief for the Brown and Gold, allowing only one earned run, two hits, and striking out four batters in 3.0 innings of work. Redshirt Junior Will Mullen also dazzled on the mound in relief, working four innings of one hit ball and striking out three. The Bronco pitching staff allowed just one walk in the second game of the doubleheader and six hits.
 
The Broncos jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, thanks to four hits, highlighted by a Drew Devine's double down the left field line that plated two runs.
 
The Wildcats cut into the Bronco lead in the top of the fourth scoring one run on two hits. Villanova used a suicide squeeze to plate their lone run. The WMU offense responded in the home half of the inning using six hits to score six runs and extend their lead to, 9-1. The Brown and Gold rattled off a streak of five straight singles to plate the six runs.
 
WMU added runs in the sixth and the eighth inning to push their lead to, 11-1 heading into the final inning. Villanova scored a lone run in the top of the ninth with two outs to cut the deficit down to nine. After the Wildcats scored their second run of the ballgame, Lovell garnered his second strikeout of the day to secure WMU's third victory of the season.