KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field this weekend as it hosts a four-game Mid-American Conference series against Miami. 

SERIES INFO
Game One: Friday, April 15 | 2:05 pm | WATCH LIVE | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS
RHP Jack Huisman (0-4, 13.10 ERA) vs RHP Jonathan Brand (5-1, 1.30 ERA)
Game Two: Saturday, April 16 | 12:05 pm | WATCH LIVE | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS
RHP Easton Sikorski (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs RHP Tyler Ronevich (1-2, 7.30 ERA)
Game Three: Saturday, April 16 | Game 2 of DH | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
TBA vs RHP Zach Maxey (1-1, 3.66 ERA)
Game Four: Sunday, April 17 | 1:05 pm | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
LHP Dane Armbrustmacher (2-2, 3.43 ERA) vs RHP Aaron Massie (1-1, 5.40 ERA)

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo this weekend for a four-game MAC series against Miami
• The Broncos head into this weekend's series with a 98-73 all-time record against the RedHawks
• WMU won three out of four against Miami last April down in Oxford
• The RedHawks are making their first trip to Kalamazoo since 2018, when they took two out of three
• Western Michigan is coming off of an 18-7 rout of Michigan State on Wednesday in East Lansing
• The Broncos turned a triple play in the bottom of the first, as Cade Sullivan caught a liner drive, stepped on first and fired down to Jimmy Allen covering second to complete the triple play
• WMU tallied a season-high 22 hits in the contest, 10 of which went for extra bases
• All 10 Broncos who had an at-bat recorded at least one hit, while nine of the 10 scored at least once
• Dylan Nevar had a career night, going for 4-for-6 with two home runs, a double, a triple and five RBIs
• Wednesday was the second time this season that Nevar has had two homers in the same game
• Cade Sullivan drove in four runs against the Spartans to tie his career high
• Connor Charping and Gavin Doyle each had three hits, three runs and two RBIs on Wednesday
• Charping is third in the MAC in average at .387, while Doyle ranks fifth at .378
• In on-base percentage, Doyle is third in the conference at .531, while Charping's .465 mark ranks eighth
• Charping leads the MAC in hits (43) and is tied for the lead in both runs scored (34) and steals (15)

THE FIRST PITCH
Coming off of an 18-7 rout of Michigan State on Wednesday night, the Broncos welcome Miami to Kalamazoo for a four-game series beginning on Friday afternoon. 

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Miami enters the weekend atop the MAC in total runs (198) and fourth in the conference in both batting average (.280) and ERA (6.05). MU's Jonathan Brand leads the MAC in ERA (1.30) and ranks second in strikeouts (58), opponents' batting average (.198) and innings pitched (48.1).  

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan tallied seven runs in the top of the first, turned a triple play in the bottom half and never looked back in an 18-7 rout of Michigan State. It was WMU's first win over a Big Ten opponent since the Broncos topped Northwestern 26-15 on May 2, 2018, in Kalamazoo. 

BALANCED ATTACK
The Broncos pounded out a season-high 22 hits against the Spartans, 10 of which went for extra bases. All 10 WMU players who had an at-bat recorded at least one hit, with nine of those coming in to score at least once. Of Western Michigan's starting nine, eight had at least two hits, and all nine reached base at least twice. Seven different Broncos had at least one RBI, with five having two or more.

NEVAR'S NIGHT
Dylan Nevar had the biggest night of his young collegiate career on Wednesday, going 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs, a triple, a double, three runs scored and five RBIs. It was Nevar's second multi-homer game of the season (March 5 at SIUE), and his 13 total bases were one shy of the single-game program record. Nevar's five-RBI outburst has him at a team-leading 26 for the season. 

COUNTING ON CONNOR
Connor Charping is all over the MAC leaderboards, leading the conference in hits (43) and tied atop the conference in runs scored (34). The senior is also third in average (.387), eighth in OBP (.465) and third in doubles (11). 

GAVIN GETS ON BASE
Gavin Doyle collected three more hits on Wednesday evening at Michigan State, bumping his average to .378, fifth-highest in the MAC. The junior is getting on base at a .531 clip, third-highest in the league. In conference play, Doyle is hitting an even .400 (9th in the MAC) and boasts a .586 on-base percentage (2nd).

SIZZLIN' SULLY
Over the last week, first baseman Cade Sullivan is 8-for-16 (.500) with five walks for a .619 OBP. He also equaled his career high with four RBIs on Wednesday at MSU.  

EASING BACK INTO IT
Since returning to the lineup for the Broncos in the series at Eastern Michigan, Easton Sikorski has yet to allow an earned run across six innings of work. In his first start since opening weekend, Sikorski worked four innings and allowed one unearned run last Saturday against Akron to collect his first victory of 2022. 

BRONCO BOMBS
After Dylan Nevar went deep twice on Wednesday, Western Michigan has blasted 26 home runs through its first 28 games. The Broncos launched 44 long balls in 2021, their highest team total since 2009. 

CAN'T CATCH THE CATCHER
After stealing a program-record 32 bases in 2021, senior catcher Connor Charping has stolen 15 bases so far in 2022, tied for the most in the MAC. With his 57 career steals, Charping ranks third in program history.

GETTING ON THE PAINFUL WAY
Justin McIntyre leads the conference in hit by pitches with 13 this season. The senior has been hit 36 times in his career, third-most in Western Michigan program history.