JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  – Western Michigan baseball ended its annual spring break Florida trip with a doubleheader against North Florida on Saturday dropping both games to the Ospreys, 11-2 and 10-4

During its trip to the Sunshine State WMU picked up four victories and hit .359 as a team with 78 runs scored. The Bronco offense was firing on all cylinders during the nine-game stretch in Florida scoring double digit runs three times and posting double digit hits in all but one game.

Redshirt sophomore Logan Hudson led the Bronco offense during the trip, recording a team-high batting average of .452 with one home run, three doubles, five runs scored and 12 RBIs. Senior Jesse Forestell matched Hudson with 12 RBIs and had a team-high slugging percentage of .724.

On the mound the Broncos had a 5.82 earned run average while senior Chris Modrzynski picked up his first win of the season and posted a 2.77 ERA with four strikeouts in 13 innings pitched. Overall the Bronco pitching staff posted 62 strikeouts in nine games.

In its series at North Florida, WMU had a .336 batting average with seven player hitting over .300. Forestell and Hajdukovic each hit .500 against the Ospreys with Forestell leading the team with four RBIs.

The Broncos return to Kalamazoo with an overall record of 5-10 and will host Chicago State in its home opener at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field on Tuesday, March 12. WMU will then hit the road for a three-game series at Butler, March 15-17.

Game One (WMU – 2, North Florida – 11)
In game one of Saturday's doubleheader, Western Michigan scored just two runs on eight hits to fall to North Florida, 11-2.
 
Senior Jimmy Roche and junior Ethan Hajdukovic registered multi-hit games for the Broncos while six different players recorded a hit in the front end of the doubleheader. Roche went 2-for-4 at the plate while Hajdukovic was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
 
The sophomore duo of Connor Charping and Justin McIntyre drove in the lone runs for the Brown & Gold in game one as WMU scored two runs in the top of the seventh to cut into the UNF lead.
 
North Florida jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a two run home run over the left field wall. The Ospreys extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the third scoring two runs on four hits. UNF scored double digit runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to gain an 11-0 advantage.
 
WMU got on the board in the top of the seventh as Hajdukovic led off the inning with a double down the right field line, his first of the season. After a hit by pitch and a fielding error the Broncos had the bases loaded for McIntrye who was then struck by a pitch to bring home the first run of the ballgame.
 
Two batters late, Charping reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded scoring junior Drew Devine from third to cut into the North Florida lead. The scoring threat was halted the next at-bat with a fly ball to the shortstop. The Ospreys retired six of the next nine Bronco batters to secure the game one victory and tie the series at 1-1.
 
Game Two (WMU – 4, North Florida – 10)
In the series finale WMU and North Florida each registered 14 hits as the Broncos fell to the Ospreys, 10-4 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
It was a stellar day at the plate for redshirt sophomore Logan Hudson going 4-for-5 with one run scored. Hudson was one of three Broncos to record multi-hit games in the doubleheader finale as redshirt senior Andrew Stone went 3-for-5 while fellow senior Cooper Marshall went 2-for-4.
 
In the leadoff spot Stone also had a team-high two RBIs and one run scored in five at-bats. Senior Jesse Forestell and Jimmy Roche each had a hit as well as an RBI against North Florida.
On the mound the Broncos used six different pitchers with the freshman duo of Easton Sikorski and Brady Miller each registering two strikeouts. Overall the Bronco pitching staff struck out six Osprey batters.
 
North Florida struck first in the bottom of the first scoring five runs on four hits to take an early 5-0 advantage. WMU gained back a run in the top of the third after Forestell roped a two out double down the right field line, scoring sophomore Blake Dunn from second.
 
The Ospreys countered in the bottom half of the third with two runs before WMU quickly responded with two runs on four hits in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out, Stone laced a two RBI single to centerfield scoring Drew Devine and Hudson to cut into the UNF lead at 7-3. In the next at-bat WMU swung on the first pitch that was lined out to center to end the scoring threat.
 
Trailing 10-3 heading into the top of the ninth after North Florida scored two in the sixth and one in the eighth, WMU got on the board once again thanks to an RBI single by Roche. In the ninth the first two batters reached base for the Broncos before a fly out brought Roche to the plate with one out. The Traverse City, Mich., native delivered on a 2-2 count with an RBI single to center scoring Stone from third.
 
The Broncos looked to mount a comeback with runners on first and second and two outs prior to a strikeout to end the game.