KALAMAZOO, Mich. – In the first home series of the season the Western Michigan baseball team split its Monday doubleheader with in-state foe Eastern Michigan, winning game one 3-1 and falling in game two 5-4 to split the series inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

On Monday the Broncos scored seven runs on 16 hits and hit a stellar .327 as a team. WMU had five players with a batting average over .300 in the Monday doubleheader, led by junior Connor Charping. Charping hit .667, going 4-for-6 at the plate with
two runs scored and one stolen base.

Fellow junior Justin McIntyre led WMU on Monday in the RBI department, going 3-for-7 with three RBIs including one double. In the two games against the Eagles, McIntyre posted a .571 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage.

Redshirt freshman Will Morrison was a tough out at the plate against the Eagles on Monday with a 1-for-4 performance, scoring two runs and drawing three walks. Morrison ranked third on the team with a .571 on-base percentage. Junior Sean O'Keefe swung a hot bat against EMU going 3-for-7 with one RBI.

On the mound in the doubleheader the Bronco pitching staff posted a 1.29 ERA and held EMU batters to a .208 batting average. WMU used just four pitchers on Monday, totaling 11 strikeouts. Senior RHP Will Mullen led the charge, starting game one and throwing 5.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with six strikeouts.

In the four-game series with Eastern Michigan the Broncos hit .328 and scored 19 runs on 41 hits. As a team the Broncos posted a .464 slugging percentage and a .404 on-base percentage. McIntyre led WMU with a .438 batting average to go along with six RBIs, three doubles, one home run and two runs scored.

As a pitching staff against the Eagles the Broncos recorded a 2.81 ERA with three different pitchers registered a 0.00 ERA. As a staff WMU tallied 32 strikeouts and gave up just 10 earned runs on 27 hits.

With the doubleheader split Western Michigan now has an overall record of 3-11 and 3-5 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos are back in action at home April 2-4 for a four-game series with Akron.

Game One (Western Michigan – 3, Eastern Michigan – 1)
In game one of Monday's doubleheader the Broncos rode the stellar performance of senior RHP Will Mullen to a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan.

Mullen picked up his first win of the season in game one throwing 5.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with six strikeouts. Freshman RHP Ryan Watt earned his first career save, throwing 1.1 innings in relief, allowing no runs on one hits and striking out one.

Offensively the Broncos scored three runs on five hits with four Broncos earning a hit against the Eagles. Western Michigan was powered by junior Justin McIntyre who went 2-for-3 at the plate with all three Bronco RBIs.

Freshman Max Huntley scored one of the Bronco runs, going 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored. Hitting in the two-spot in the line-up redshirt freshman Will Morrison was 0-for-1 at the plate but drew two walks scored two runs.
Eastern Michigan put the pressure early in game one loading the bases in both the first and second inning. However, Mullen got out of both jams to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

Western Michigan got on the board first in the bottom of the third with one run on one hit. With two outs and a runner on second McIntyre rocketed an RBI single to left field, scoring Will Morrison from second to give WMU an early 1-0 lead.

The Broncos added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth with two runs on three hits. After a wild pitch, WMU had runners on second and third before McIntyre delivered once again with a two RBI single to left field to extend the Bronco lead to 3-0.

EMU gained a run back in the bottom of the sixth as EMU's Christian Bault hit a solo home run over the left field wall. That was it for the Eagles as Ryan Watt sat down EMU 1-2-3 to secure the 3-1 victory for the Broncos.

Game Two (Western Michigan – 4, Eastern Michigan – 5)
Despite out hitting the Eagles the Western Michigan baseball team was unable to mount a late comeback in a 5-4 loss in game two of Monday's doubleheader inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

Western Michigan recorded 11 hits in game two to EMU's six. The Broncos had eight players register a hit against EMU with Sean O'Keefe and Connor Charping each having multi-hit games.

Leading the way offensively was Connor Charping who went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored. Behind Charping was Sean O'Keefe who went 2-for-4 with one RBI in the cleanup spot. As the designated hitter, Gavin Dole went 1-for-1 with an RBI and a double.

The first four hitters in the line-up for Western Michigan got on base early and often in game two as the first four went a combined 5-for-15 with one run scored, one double and one RBI.

On the mound the Broncos used three different pitchers and held EMU to just six hits with only one of EMU's five runs earned on the afternoon. Out of the bullpen RHP Brendan Lovell pitched three innings, allowing no runs on just one hit while striking out two in 11 batters faced.

After earning the save in game one, freshman RHP Ryan Watt continued his stellar outing in game two going four innings, allowing no earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts. Watts now has an ERA of 0.77 in five appearances.

Eastern Michigan got on the board early in game two, scoring its first three runs without recording a hit in the top of the first. WMU answered back in the bottom half of the inning as O'Keefe laced an RBI single through the left side, scoring Jimmy Allen from second to cut the EMU lead down to 3-1.

The Eagles gained two more runs in the top of the fourth as a two-run ground rule double off the center field wall extended the EMU lead to 5-1. Western Michigan countered once again in the bottom of the fourth with one run on two hits. Gavin Doyle connected on an RBI double to left field that scored Connor Charping from first to trim the Bronco deficit down to three.

WMU looked to be on the comeback trial in the bottom of the sixth as the Brown & Gold scored two runs on three hits in the inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Max Huntley grounded out to the EMU shortstop to score Drew Devine from third and cut the EMU lead down to 5-3.

Freshman Josh Swinehart pinch hit an at-bat later and recorded an RBI after hitting a rocket towards the EMU third baseman. The hit allowed Charping to score from third and trimmed the WMU deficit down to one.

In the bottom of the seventh O'Keefe reached base on a single through the left side and then was pinch-ran for by junior Blake Dunn. Two pitches later, Dunn looked to steal second base to give WMU a runner in scoring position but was thrown out to end the game.