KALAMAZOO, Mich.  – Despite two home runs from senior Nate Grys, Western Michigan baseball dropped the series opener to Ohio, 8-6 on Thursday afternoon inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

It's the third time in his career Grys has belted two home runs in a game with the last time coming back on May 2 of 2018 against Northwestern. The Sterling Heights, Mich., native now has four home runs during his senior campaign and 23 for his career. The 23 career home runs are tied for fifth most in program history.

Grys was one of three Broncos to earn multi-hits on the day going 2-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored. Thursday's contest was Grys' 13th multi-hit game of the season and eighth multi-RBI game.

Sophomore Blake Dunn registered his 24th multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with an RBI and one run scored. Junior Drew Devine also produced a multi-hit day at the plate going 2-for-4. Devine now ranks second on the team with 16 multi-hit games this season.

The heart of the line-up for the Broncos of Dunn, Grys and Devine went a combined 6-for-12 (.500) with four RBIs and three runs scored. In the final two spots of the line-up, senior Cooper Marshall and sophomore Justin McIntyre went 2-for-7 with an RBI, two doubles and two runs scored.

As a team the Brown & Gold recorded six runs on nine hits, marking the seventh time in the last nine games WMU has scored over four runs. The Broncos left just five batters on base compared to Ohio's eight while hitting a staggering .333 with two outs.

On the mound the Broncos used five different pitchers, striking out eight Ohio batters. Senior Chris Modrzynski led the way with three strikeouts while redshirt junior Will Mullen had a solid outing throwing 3.1 innings, allowing no earned runs on two hits with one strikeout in 12 batters faced.

Western Michigan moves its overall record to 17-30 and 10-13 in Mid-American Conference play. With Thursday's outcome, the Broncos are now a half game behind Ohio for the final spot in the upcoming MAC Tournament and need to win the final two games of the series to secure a berth in the conference tournament.

Game two of the series is set for Friday, May 17 inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.

It was a quick start for the Bobcats who posted a pair of runs in the first and second along with two runs in the third to take a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.

WMU rallied back in the bottom of the third scoring four runs on four hits to tie the game after three innings of play. Cooper Marshall led off the inning with a double to left field that was followed by Justin McIntyre roping an RBI double down the left field line to score WMU's first run of the game.

After a strikeout, a single by senior Jimmy Roche gave WMU runners on the corners with one out with Dunn stepping to the plate. The Saugatuck, Mich., native drove in the second run of the game for the Brown & Gold with an RBI single back up the middle.

The Broncos moved runners to second and third with one out after a wild pitch by the Ohio pitcher and plated a run two pitches later on a passed ball. Grys registered his first RBI of the day in the next at-bat, grounding out to second base allowing Dunn to score from third and tie the game at 4-4.

The game was deadlocked at 4-4 until the bottom of the fifth prior to Grys blasting his third home run of the season over the left field wall to give WMU its first lead of the ballgame. It was Grys' second home run in five games and 22nd of his career.

In the top of the seventh, Ohio regained the lead thanks to two runs on two hits. The Bobcats pulled ahead after a sacrifice fly to center field allowed the runner from third to score.

WMU rallied back and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh thanks to the powerful bat of Grys. After back-to-back fly outs began the inning, Grys smacked a two out solo home run to left field to tie the game once again at 6-6 through seven innings.
Ohio struck back in the top of the eighth with two runs on one hit to grab an 8-6 advantage. With two outs and a full count, Ohio's Rudy Rott recorded a two-RBI single to right center field to propel the Bobcats back in front.

The Broncos looked to mount a comeback but were held hitless the final three innings of play as Ohio secured the game one victory.