KENT, Ohio – In the series finale the Western Michigan baseball team dropped a high scoring affair with Kent State, 11-10 inside Schoonover Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Broncos looked to make a comeback attempt in the top of the ninth scoring two runs on three hits while placing the tying and go-ahead runs on base. However, the comeback attempt fell short as a swinging strikeout ended the game and the series.
Western Michigan scored 10 runs on 10 hits in the series finale with six different Broncos registering a hit and three having multi-hit games. WMU had four players with multi-RBI games while drawing six walks as a team.
Senior
Drew Devine continued his stellar weekend at the plate going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, one walk and two RBIs. In the cleanup spot junior
Sean O'Keefe went 1-for-4 with one run scored, one double and two RBIs.
In the leadoff spot junior
Connor Charping went 2-for-5 at the plate with one run scored and one RBI. Charping also had one stolen base and now has 28 on the season, the third most in a single-season in school history.
The duo of
Ethan Hajdukovic and
Jimmy Allen each had two RBIs in the series finale against the Golden Flashes. Hajdukovic went 0-for-3 at the plate but drew one walk with two RBIs and one run scored. Behind Hajdukovic in the line-up, Allen went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
On the mound the Broncos used four pitchers, totaling five strikeouts. Out of the bullpen the Broncos got an impressive performance from freshman
Hayden Berg who threw 1.1 innings allowing no earned runs on one hit with a team-high two strikeouts.
Concluding its final road series Western Michigan now has an overall record of 21-25 and 20-16 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos conclude the regular season at home, May 28-30 against Ohio.
It was a fast start for the Broncos who scored five runs on four hits in the top of the first. Junior
Connor Charping led off the game with a single up the middle before stealing second and then advancing to third on an error. In the next at-bat,
Will Morrison reached base on a wild pitch, allowing Charping to score from third and give WMU an early 1-0 lead.
With a runner on first the Broncos got back-to-back-to-back doubles to extend their lead to 3-0 in the first. WMU scored its final two runs of the innings on a groundout to the Kent State second baseman and a sacrifice fly.
Western Michigan held its five-run lead until the bottom of the third when Kent State scored four runs on four hits to trim the lead down to one. WMU got back into the scoring column in the top of the fourth with two runs on one hit. With the bases loaded and one out, senior
Drew Devine drew a walk, allowing fellow senior
Logan Hudson to score. In the next at-bat, O'Keefe registered a sacrifice fly to left field to widen the Bronco lead to 7-4.
The Broncos added another run in the top of the fifth with one run on one hit. Charping earned the RBI on a fielder's choice as Hajdukovic scored from third for WMU's eighth run of the game. Kent State rallied back scoring two in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game at eight through five innings of play.
Kent State broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh scoring one run on two hits. The Golden Flashes extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth with two runs to gain an 11-8 advantage.
WMU's comeback attempt fell short in the top of the ninth despite scoring two runs on three hits. Morrison led off the inning with an infield single before Devine roped a double down the left field line to give the Broncos runners on second and third with no outs. The bases were then loaded with one out after junior
Blake Dunn registered a walk.
With the bases loaded senior
Ethan Hajdukovic earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Morrison to cut the Kent State lead down to two. In the next at-bat
Jimmy Allen singled up the middle to score Devine and trim the WMU deficit to one. With runners on the corners the Broncos comeback attempt fell short as a strikeout ended the game and gave Kent State a 11-10 victory.
