VALPARAISO, Ind. – Senior
Cooper Marshall registered two of the Broncos' three hits including a solo home run on Tuesday afternoon as Western Michigan baseball dropped its midweek contest at Valparaiso, 11-1 in seven innings.
Marshall collected two of the Broncos' three hits against the Crusaders including a solo home run over the center field wall in the top of the first. It was Marshall's second home run of the season and third of his career.
The senior outfielder recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season and extended his hitting streak and reached base safely streak to four games. It was Marshall's first home run since March 24 at Ball State.
Joining Marshall with a lone hit for the Broncos was junior
Drew Devine who went 1-for-3 in the leadoff spot in the line-up. Devine roped a one out single to center field in the top of the third inning. With the hit, the Marshall, Mich., native extended his hitting streak to an impressive 11 games.
In the shortened contest sophomore
Blake Dunn went 0-for-3, snapping his streak of 33 straight games reaching base safely.
Six different pitchers saw the mound for the Brown & Gold, registering six strikeouts. Redshirt junior
Will Mullen extended his streak to five straight appearances without giving up an earned run on Tuesday. Mullen threw two innings, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out three Valparaiso batters.
Western Michigan returns home for its second midweek contest on Wednesday, April 16 versus Grace College. First pitch at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field is set for 3:05 p.m. WMU now has an overall record of 11-22 and 4-6 in Mid-American Conference Play.
In the top of the first after a fly out to begin the game,
Cooper Marshall blasted the fourth pitch he saw over the centerfield wall to give WMU an early 1-0 advantage. The Broncos have scored first in 16 of their 33 games played this season.
Valparaiso responded in the bottom half of the inning, connecting on a two run home run to right center field to take a 2-1 lead. The Crusaders added to their lead in the bottom of the second with a two out two-RBI double to right center field to extend the lead to 4-1.
After the second inning the Broncos were unable to get a runner into scoring position as Valpo scored one run in the fifth, three in the sixth and three in the seventh to secure the midweek victory.
