KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team split a doubleheader against Northern Illinois for the second consecutive day on Saturday. The Broncos took the opener, 11-6, while NIU grabbed game two, 7-1.
FINAL SCORE (G1): Western Michigan 11, Northern Illinois 6 (F/7)
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (15-25, 12-14 MAC) | Northern Illinois (8-33, 7-18 MAC)
W: Dane Armbrustmacher (3-4) |
L: Reagan Klawiter (1-6)
FINAL SCORE (G2): Northern Illinois 7, Western Michigan 1
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (15-26, 12-15 MAC) | Northern Illinois (9-33, 8-18 MAC)
W: Tommy Meyer (1-3) |
L: Brenden Lovell (2-2) |
Save: Nick Bonk (1)
Dylan Nevar and
Josh Swinehart collected three hits apiece for Western Michigan in the opener, while Nevar also drove in three runs.
Gavin Doyle had two hits and tied his career high with four runs batted in. The quartet of
Connor Charping, Doyle,
Justin McIntyre and Nevar each scored twice for the Broncos.
On the pitching side,
Dane Armbrustmacher picked up the win in game one for WMU after tossing five innings and yielding just one run. The southpaw collected six strikeouts.
Brenden Lovell got the ball to start game two and worked five-and-two-thirds innings while racking up a career-high nine strikeouts.
Western Michigan was out of the gates quickly in game one, as a Doyle two-run double and Nevar two-run homer gave the Broncos a 4-0 advantage in the first inning. WMU got three more in the second on a Charping run-scoring double and two-run single by Doyle.
Northern Illinois pushed across its first run of the day in the fourth, cutting the WMU edge to 7-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Nevar and Swinehart each doubled in a run to extend the margin out to 9-1, before a rain shower passed through, causing a 45-minute rain delay. Once play resumed,
Greg Budig knocked in another run to give the Broncos a 10-1 lead after five.
NIU pulled three back in the sixth, bringing the visitors to within six, 10-4.
Cade Sullivan answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, to tie Nevar for the team lead with nine.
The Huskies picked up two in the seventh, but
Ethan Houghtaling buckled down to retire the final three he faced to seal the 11-6 win for the Broncos.
In game two, both teams had early threats snuffed out, including Western Michigan leaving the bases loaded in the second. Northern Illinois then broke the scoreless deadlock with a run in the third.
The game remained 1-0 until the sixth, when the Huskies added a pair to extend their edge to 3-0. The visitors tallied four more in the eighth to make it 7-0.
WMU's lone tally of the finale came in the ninth.
Brendan Harrity led off with a pinch-hit single and eventually scored on a Budig ground ball.
Western Michigan steps outside of conference play on Tuesday afternoon as it travels to Valparaiso. First pitch between the Broncos and Beacons is scheduled for 4 pm.
