MANHATTAN, KS.  – In a tightly contested battle on Sunday afternoon the Western Michigan baseball team had a runner in scoring position in four of the final five innings but was only able to push across one run in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State.

The Broncos had a runner in scoring position in four of the final five innings including two innings with the game-tying run on third base. Overall WMU had five innings with a runner in scoring position, scoring just one run in the top of the sixth.

Western Michigan registered six hits against the Wildcats with two going for extra bases. Connor Charping and Ethan Hajdukovic led the offense with two hits apiece. In the leadoff spot Charping went 2-for-3 at the plate with one double, one run scored and drawing a walk. Charping also registered a team-high two stolen bases.

Senior Ethan Hajdukovic was 2-for-4 at the plate on Sunday and is now has a .300 batting average on the season. Third baseman Logan Hudson registered a hit for the Broncos, going 1-for-4 with the Broncos lone RBI in the top of the sixth.

Junior Ryan Missal had a good day at the plate for the Brown & Gold going 1-for-2 with a double. Missal's double in the top of the seventh was the third double of his career. Western Michigan in game three left six players on-base compared to Kansas State's seven left on base.

On the mound the Broncos used just three different pitchers with RHP Jack Huisman making his second career start against the Wildcats. Despite taking the loss Huisman threw five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts in 20 batters faced. Of Huisman's 89 pitches, 52 went for strikes.

Out of the bullpen LHP Dane Armbrustmacher went 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit in eight batters faced with two strikeouts. In his collegiate debut freshman RHP Ryan Watt faced six batters in 1.1 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit. 

Despite having runners in scoring position in five innings on Sunday the Broncos were able to push across just one run.  With runners in scoring position WMU went 1-for-8 at the plate and 1-for-12 with runners on base.

Concluding it's three-game series with Kansas State the Broncos scored 12 runs on 20 hits. Western Michigan now has an overall record of 0-3 and will hit the road once again next weekend for a three-game series at Saint Louis, March 5-7.

The Broncos looked to capitalize early against the Wildcats as Charping registered a single and then stole second base to give WMU a runner on second with two outs in the top of the third inning. However, a ground out to Kansas State shortstop ended the early scoring chance for the Brown & Gold.

Kansas State scored both of its runs in the bottom of the fourth off of two hits. After a leadoff walk followed by a steal of second, a groundout to second base gave the Wildcats a runner at third with one out. In the next at-bat a sacrifice fly brought home the runner from third and gave K-State a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats then got back-to-back hits to push across another run to extend their lead to 2-0.

WMU got on the board in the top of the sixth with one run on two hits. Charping led off the inning with a double down the right field line to give the Brown & Gold a runner in scoring position. After a fly out, Charping stole third with one out before a strikeout gave WMU a runner on third with two away.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Logan Hudson rocketed a single up the middle to score Charping from third give the Broncos their first run of the game. WMU was unable to get another across home plate in the inning as a swinging strikeout ended the scoring threat.

The Broncos got runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh and eighth innings but was unable to tie the game. Ryan Missal registered a one out double in the top of the seventh before back-to-back fly outs ended the inning. In the eighth WMU had runners on first and second with one out prior to an inning-ending double-play.

In the ninth the Broncos got a runner on first after an Ethan Hajdukovic single to center field to get the tying run on-base. However, six pitches later Kansas State converted a double play to end the game and earn the 2-1 victory.