TOLEDO, Ohio – Powered by a grand slam from senior Ethan Hajdukovic and seven RBIs from junior Connor Charping the Western Michigan baseball team defeated Toledo 16-13 in a slugfest on a windy Friday afternoon inside Scott Park.

Charping was 3-for-4 at the plate in the series opener against the Rockets and was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. The Trenton, Mich., native had one double with two runs scored while connecting on his third home run of the season. Charping registered a career-high seven RBIs against Toledo, marking the second most RBIs in a single-game in school history.

Senior Ethan Hajdukovic recorded a career day at the plate going 2-for-5 with one run scored with a career-high six RBIs. Hajdukovic also belted his third home run of the season, earning a grand slam over the right field wall in the top of the third inning. It was WMU's first grand slam since Nate Grys against Northwestern back in 2018. Hajudkovic's six RBIs was the third most in a single-game in school history.

Preseason MAC Player of the Year Blake Dunn had his best day at the plate of the season in the series opener. The junior outfielder went 2-for-3 with one double, one RBI, one walk and four runs scored. Dunn's four runs scored was tied for the second most in a single-game in program history.

Redshirt freshman Will Morrison collected his sixth multi-hit game of the season after a 2-for-6 performance with two runs scored. Rounding out the hitting for the Brown & Gold was Jimmy Allen and Justin McIntyre with one hit each.  

Overall Western Michigan boasted a season-high 16 runs on 11 hits with six players earning a hit and four earning RBIs. It was the Broncos sixth game this season scoring double digit runs and the 14th game with double-digit hits.

On the mound the Broncos used four different pitchers totaling 12 strikeouts. Earning the start senior LHP Brandon Petersen went 2.1 innings allowing just five hits while striking out three. Picking up his team-high fifth win of the season senior RHP Will Mullen threw 4.1 innings allowing three hits while striking out seven. Mullen is now a perfect 5-0 with a 3.05 ERA.

Western Michigan with the series opening victory improves its overall record to 14-17 and 13-8 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos and Rockets are back in action on Saturday, May 1 for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.

Toledo got on the board first in the bottom of the first scoring one run on two hits to take an early 1-0 lead. The Rocket held the lead until the top of the third when WMU exploded for six runs on three hits. The top of the third for the Brown & Gold was highlighted by a grand slam from Ethan Hajdukovic to give WMU a 6-1 advantage.

Toledo responded quickly in the bottom of the third scoring four runs on three hits to cut the Bronco lead down to one. The Rocket big inning was highlighted by a three-run home run over the right field wall.

Western Michigan extended its lead in the top of the sixth scoring five runs on five hits to earn a 11-5 led. A bunt single by Blake Dunn scored the first run of the inning which was followed up by a two-RBI double off the left field wall by Connor Charping. With two outs, Hajdukovic roped a two-RBI single to centerfield to propel the Broncos to a six-run lead.

Toledo rallied with two runs in the bottom of the sixth before the Broncos offense exploded once again with four runs on one hit in the top of the seventh. In the top of the seventh Charping blasted a three-run home run over the left field wall for his third home run of the season.

Western Michigan held a 16-9 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth as Toledo scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh while the Broncos added a run in the top of the ninth. The Rockets looked to make a comeback in the bottom of the ninth scoring four runs on three hits to trim the WMU lead down to three.

However, the comeback effort faded away as freshman Ryan Watt recorded a fly out and a groundout to shortstop to secure the 16-13 victory.