EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Western Michigan held a 10-9 edge late, but SIUE scored a pair in the bottom of the seventh to clip the Broncos, 11-10, in the series finale between the two teams on Sunday afternoon.
FINAL SCORE: SIUE 11, Western Michigan 10
LOCATION: Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex (Edwardsville, Ill.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (1-9) | SIUE (6-4)
W: Jake Bockenstedt (1-1)
| L: Ethan Houghtaling (0-1)
Connor Charping,
Ryan Missal and
Will Morrison had two knocks apiece for the Broncos, with Charping, Morrison and
Ben Campos each scoring two runs. Missal hit his team-leading fourth home run of the campaign and drove in three for the afternoon. Charping and
Josh Swinehart each collected a pair of RBIs for WMU. Charping's two hits extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games, dating back to last season.
Western Michigan scored first for the third game in a row. Charping started the game by reaching on an error, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball, then scored on a Morrison sacrifice fly to give the Broncos an early 1-0 edge.
SIUE evened the score with a tally in the bottom of the first, but WMU went right back in front in the second on a
Cade Sullivan solo home run.
The Cougars plated five in the third and one in the fourth to seize a 7-2 lead after four.
The Broncos started the fifth with three consecutive hits, the last of which was a two-run double by Charping which brought
Jimmy Allen and Campos around to score. With two outs, Missal found a hole on the right side to bring WMU within two, 7-5.
After single tallies by SIUE in the fifth and sixth, Western Michigan trailed 9-5 entering the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh, the Broncos erupted for five to go back in front. Swinehart delivered the first two runs of the frame with a single, and Morrison then raced home on a wild pitch to bring WMU within one. Missal followed with his team-leading fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, to push Western Michigan back into the lead, 10-9.
SIUE answered with two in the bottom of the frame to regain an 11-10 edge. WMU had two runners on in the eighth and put the tying run on base again in the ninth, but were turned away both times.
Western Michigan returns to the state of Illinois next weekend, March 11-13, to continue non-conference play with a three-game series at Southern Illinois. First pitch for game one between the Broncos and Salukis is set for 7 pm on Friday evening.
