KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Scoring two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth propelled the Western Michigan baseball team to a 6-1 victory and a series win over in-state rival Central Michigan on Sunday inside Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

The Broncos scored all six of their runs in the final two innings of play as Western Michigan clinched its first series victory over Central Michigan since 2018. WMU posted six runs on 11 hits with seven different players registering a hit.

Offensively WMU was guided by the trio of junior Sean O'Keefe and seniors Drew Devine and Ethan Hajdukovic who each recorded multi-hit games. It was a big day at the plate for Hajdukovic who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBIs and a home run. Hajdukovic's home run in the bottom of the eighth inning was his seventh of the season.

Fellow senior Drew Devine went 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored. In front of Devine in the batting order was Sean O'Keefe who notched a 2-for-4 performance with one double and one run scored.

Hitting in the eight spot sophomore Jimmy Allen went 1-for-4 and earned a multi-RBI game with two. Junior Blake Dunn continued to have a stellar weekend at the plate going 1-for-4 with one run scored against the Chippewas.

On the mound the Broncos got an outstanding performance from freshman Ryan Watt. Watt threw 5.2 innings allowing no earned runs on just three hits with two strikeouts. With the performance Watt now has a 2.19 in 14 appearances this season.

Earning the victory for the Brown & Gold out of the bullpen was sophomore Dane Armbrustmacher who went 3.1 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts.

Over the weekend the Broncos hit .288 against the Chippewas and scored 24 runs on 34 hits with seven doubles and two home runs. WMU had four players hit over .300 on the weekend led by Devine with a .462 batting average. The Marshall, Mich., native also had three RBIs, one double and five runs scored.

Hajdukovic led WMU in the power department over the weekend with a .385 batting average to go along with a .692 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage. Hajdukovic also led the team with eight RBIs while having one home run, one double and four runs scored.

With the series win Western Michigan improved its overall record to 20-22 and 19-13 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos make their final road trip of the regular season next weekend as WMU travels to Kent State, May 21-23.

It was a pitcher's duel early on between Western Michigan and Central Michigan as each team combined for just six hits through the first six innings. WMU looked to score in the bottom of the second after placing runners on first and second with one out. The scoring threat was halted in the next at-bat as WMU grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Western Michigan had another scoring chance in the bottom of the third as WMU had runners on first and second with two outs. However, a strikeout ended the scoring chance as WMU and CMU were tied after three innings of play.

It was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when WMU scored two runs on three hits to break the tie. To lead off the inning, the Broncos got back-to-back singles from Devine and Hajudkovic to give WMU runners on the corners with no outs. Western Michigan loaded the bases one batter later after Logan Hudson was hit by a pitch.

With the bases loaded Jimmy Allen delivered with a high chopper into left field and over the CMU third baseman to score two and give the Brown & Gold a 2-0 lead.

The Broncos went back to work in the bottom of the eighth with four runs on five hits. With runners on the corners and no outs, Devine roped an RBI single to right field to extend the Bronco lead to 3-0. In the next at-bat fellow senior Ethan Hajdukovic blasted his seventh home run of the season over the left field wall to increase the Bronco lead to 6-0.

Central Michigan avoided the shutout in the top of the ninth as the Chippewas scored one run on three hits in the top of the ninth. The Chippewas looked to add more with runners on the corners and two outs but a fly ball to centerfield ended the scoring threat and secured the 6-1 win.