KENT, Ohio – To begin its weekend Mid-American Conference road series sophomore Blake Dunn extended his reached base streak to 26 games as Western Michigan baseball dropped its series opener at Kent State, 9-5 on Friday night.

Dunn quickly extended his reached base safely streak to 26 games in his first plate appearance, drawing a two-out walk in the top of the first. On the day the sophomore outfielder led the Broncos going 3-for-4 with one stolen base and one run scored. The 3-for-4 performance was Dunn's team-high 15^th multi-hit game of the season.

Joining Dunn with multi-hits was junior Drew Devine who went 2-for-5 with an RBI in the leadoff spot for the Brown & Gold. Devine now has 19 RBIs on the year and collected his ninth multi-hit game.

Senior Nate Grys collected multi-RBIs for the fourth time this season after going 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs. Grys laced a two-RBI triple in the top of the ninth to cut into the Kent State lead. Fellow senior Jimmy Roche and junior Ethan Hajdukovic also registered RBIs for the Broncos on Friday.

As a team WMU matched Kent State with 12 hits, marking the 14^th game this season the Broncos have had double digit hits. In five conference games the Brown & Gold have eclipsed double digit hits three times. Overall WMU left 10 runners on base compared to Kent State's seven.

On the mound Western Michigan used four pitchers totaling six strikeouts and walking just two Kent State batters. Junior RHP Zach Mehelich led the Bronco pitching staff with three strikeouts in 13 batters faced.

Game two of the weekend series against Kent State is set for Saturday, April 6 with first pitch at 4:00 p.m. Western Michigan now has an overall record of 7-19 and 1-4 in conference play

After WMU stranded a runner at first in the top of the first the Golden Flashes got on the board quickly in the bottom half of the inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, a two-RBI double down the left field line propelled Kent State to an early 2-0 advantage.

The Broncos struck back in the top of the second scoring one run on two hits and stranding a pair on base. O'Keefe led off the inning with his fourth double of the season to left center field to give WMU a runner in scoring position. A groundout moved O'Keefe to third before another groundout by Roche brought the sophomore across home plate to cut the Kent State lead in half.

In the bottom of the third the Golden Flashes extended their lead to 7-1 after scoring five runs on four hits highlighted by a one out three-run home run over the left field wall.

WMU trailed 7-1 until the top of the seventh when the Brown & Gold scored two runs on three hits to cut into the Kent State lead. After the first two batters, WMU had runners on second and third prior to junior Ethan Hajdukovic grounding out to the KSU pitcher that allowed Roche to score from third.

In the next at-bat Drew Devine roped an RBI single to right field, scoring sophomore Justin McIntyre to trail the Golden Flashes 7-3. The Broncos got runners on the corners with two outs after Dunn single to left field before a fly out to centerfield ended the scoring threat.

Kent State added to its lead once again in the bottom of the seventh, knocking a two-run home run to right field to gain a 9-3 advantage.

The Broncos looked to be on the comeback trail in the top of the ninth as back-to-back singles with one out brought Grys to the plate trailing 9-3. The senior outfielder delivered with a two RBI triple to right center field, scoring Forestell and Dunn to cut WMU's deficit down to 9-5.

However, the scoring threat was halted the next two at-bats as a strikeout followed by a groundout gave Kent State the game one victory.