KALAMAZOO, Mich. – On Saturday afternoon inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field the Western Michigan baseball team split its doubleheader with SIU-Edwardsville, falling in game one 6-2 before earning the split with a 10-2 victory in game two.

The game two victory was aided by sophomore RHP Easton Sikorski who threw the Broncos' second complete game of the season while allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven. It's the second complete game for WMU this season and the first since Brandon Petersen did so against Akron on April 2.

On Saturday the Broncos scored 12 runs on 17 hits with five doubles against the Cougars. As a team WMU hit .309 with a .400 slugging percentage and a .441 on-base percentage. WMU had seven players with a .300 batting average or better, led by Logan Hudson with a .500 batting average. Hudson also led the Broncos with three doubles and three RBIs.

Junior Connor Charping had a stellar performance at the plate on Saturday going 2-for-5 with three runs scored while drawing four walks. The duo of Ethan Hajdukovic and Sean O'Keefe each registered a .250 batting average with both players having two RBIs.

On the mound the Broncos used just three pitchers in the doubleheader posting a 3.21 ERA and holding the Cougar offense to a .250 batting average. The trio of Brady Miller, Easton Sikorski and Will Mullen struck out 11 batters on Saturday and gave us just five earned runs on 14 hits.

With the doubleheader split the Broncos now have an overall record of 11-14. WMU and SIUE conclude its four-game series on Sunday, April 18 with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m.

Game One (Western Michigan – 2, SIU-Edwardsville – 6)
In game one of Saturday's doubleheader the Western Michigan baseball team scored two runs on six hits in a 6-2 loss to SIU-Edwardsville inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

Six different Broncos registered a hit in game one with the duo of Ethan Hajdukovic and Drew Devine each having an RBI for the Brown & Gold. In the leadoff spot, Will Morrison went 1-for-2 with one run scored. Behind Morrison was junior Connor Charping who went 1-for-3 at the plate and drew one walk.

Devine continued his hot play from the plate going 1-for-3 and registering one RBI. In the nine spot in the line-up, preseason MAC Player of the Year Blake Dunn went 1-for-2 while drawing a walk.

On the mound the Broncos used a pair of pitchers totaling four strikeouts. In his seventh start of the season RHP Brady Miller went 3.1 innings allowing zero earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Out of the bullpen senior RHP Will Mullen pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five hits while striking out two.

For the second game in a row against SIUE the Broncos got on the board first with one run on two hits in the bottom of the first. WMU led off the inning with a double by Will Morrison and a single by Connor Charping to give the Broncos runners on the corners with no outs.

After Charping stole second, Ethan Hajdukovic grounded out to the SIUE second baseman but scored Morrison from third to give WMU an early 1-0 lead. The Cougars rallied back in the top of the second inning scoring three runs on three hits to earn a 3-1 advantage.

Western Michigan cut its deficit down to one in the bottom of the fourth with one run on one hit. With Hudson on third base and two outs, Drew Devine roped a single to left field to scoring Hudson and trimming the Cougar lead down to one.

It was as close as the Broncos got in the late innings as SIUE scored one run in the top of the fifth and two more in the top of the seventh to earn the 6-2 game one victory.

Game Two (Western Michigan – 10, SIU-Edwardsville – 2)
Behind a stellar complete game performance from sophomore RHP Easton Sikorski the Western Michigan baseball team defeated SIUE in game two of Saturday's doubleheader 10-2.

Sikorski earned his second victory of the season in a complete game while allowing two earned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. Over his past two outings Sikorski has allowed just four earned runs on eight hits with a staggering 16 strikeouts. The sophomore RHP now has a record of 2-1 this season with a 3.14 ERA.

The Bronco offense exploded in game two of Saturday's doubleheader with 10 runs on 11 hits, marking the 12th game this season with double-digit hits. It was the fourth game this season with at least 10 runs for the Brown & Gold.

WMU's offense was led by redshirt junior Logan Hudson who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, one run scored and a career-high three doubles. Hudson's three doubles was one shy of the school record for most doubles in a single-game.

Senior Ethan Hajdukovic earned his second multi-hit game of the season in game two with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. Junior Sean O'Keefe registered his fifth multi-RBI game of the season going 1-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored.

In game two the Broncos had two players each earn multi-hit and multi-rbi games while eight different players recorded a hit.

The Broncos got off to a quick start in game two of Saturday's doubleheader scoring two runs in the second, one in the third, six in the fourth and one in the fifth. WMU earned two runs on two hits in the bottom of the second as WMU executed a perfect hit & run for an RBI single by Justin McIntyre to earn a 1-0 lead. After a strikeout an SIUE error by the catch allowed Hajdukovic to score from third and extend the lead to 2-0.

Western Michigan was back to work in the bottom of the third scoring one run on two hits. With one out, Logan Hudson connected on an RBI double off the left field wall to score Connor Charping and give WMU a 3-0 advantage.

WMU widened its lead to nine after scoring six runs on six hits in the bottom of the fourth. WMU extended its lead thanks to four straight hits highlighted by a two-RBI single from Sean O'Keefe and an RBI double from Logan Hudson, scoring O'Keefe from first. With two outs the Broncos registered three straight RBI singles to earn a 9-0 lead.

SIUE captured its first hit of the game in the top of the fifth with a single to left field. An RBI single along with a wild pitch helped the Cougars score its only two runs on three hits in the top of the fifth.

Western Michigan added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as Hudson rocketed an RBI double down the left field line to score Charping from third. WMU looked to add more posting runners on second and third with two outs before a groundout ending the scoring threat.

The Cougars had a runner on base with one out in the top of the seventh before Sikorski ended any chance of a comeback with back-to-back strikeouts. Sikorski threw the second complete game of the season for the Broncos while picking up his second win on the year.