MUNCIE, Ind. – Despite a strong pitching performance from Dane Armbrustmacher, the Western Michigan baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Ball State on Monday, falling 2-0 and 12-5 to the Cardinals.
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Ball State 2, Western Michigan 0 (F/7)
LOCATION: Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark Complex
RECORDS: Western Michigan (4-14, 2-3 MAC) | Ball State (13-8, 8-1 MAC)
W: Tyler Schweitzer (4-2) | L: Dane Armbrustmacher (1-2) Save: Sam Klein (6)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Ball State 12, Western Michigan 5
LOCATION: Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark Complex
RECORDS: Western Michigan (4-15, 2-4 MAC) | Ball State (14-8, 9-1 MAC)
W: Ryan Brown (1-0) | L: Joe Shapiro (0-4)
 
Armbrustmacher took the ball in game one for Western Michigan and turned in a second straight quality six-inning outing. The southpaw yielded two runs on eight hits while striking out six Cardinals on the afternoon.
 
Offensively, Brendan Harrity and Dylan Nevar each recorded a multi-hit game for WMU in game two. Nevar also drew a pair of free passes in the opener to reach four times for the day, while Harrity was the lone Bronco to score twice.
 
Ball State opened game one with three straight singles to take an early 1-0 edge. Western Michigan got back-to-back singles to start the bottom half, but were turned away.
 
With the Broncos still trailing 1-0 in the third, Will Morrison doubled with two outs and then stole third, but was left stranded.
 
After Western Michigan left another runner in scoring position in the fourth, Ball State tacked onto its lead with a tally in the fifth.
 
In the last of the seventh, Nevar drew a one-out walk for the Broncos, but the Cardinals closed the door to seal the 2-0 victory.
 
Ball State raced out to an early lead in game two, taking advantage of a few WMU errors to open up a 9-0 advantage after three-and-a-half innings.
 
The Broncos got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, plating four. Greg Budig, Josh Swinehart and Connor Charping each drove in a run, with Budig coming around later in the inning on a balk to trim the margin to 9-4.
 
The Cardinals tacked on two more in the fifth, while Nevar singled in a run in the bottom half to get WMU back within 11-5. BSU notched the contest's final run in the seventh.
 
Western Michigan continues MAC play on Friday as it opens up a four-game series at Eastern Michigan. First pitch for the series opener between the Broncos and Eagles is set for 3 pm.