BATON ROUGE, La. – The Western Michigan baseball team got a ninth-inning home run from Cade Sullivan, but was edged by #1 LSU, 5-3, on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
 
FINAL SCORE: #1 LSU 5, Western Michigan 3
LOCATION: Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (Baton Rouge, La.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (0-2) | #1 LSU (2-0)   
W: Riley Cooper (1-0) | L: Dane Armbrustmacher (0-1) | Save: Nate Ackenhausen (1) 
 
LSU struck early for the second consecutive day, as the hosts tallied a pair in the bottom of the first inning. The Tigers tacked on two more in the fourth to make it 4-0.
 
The Broncos got their offense rolling in the sixth. After Will Morrison was hit by a pitch, Jimmy Allen singled to put two on with one out for Gavin Doyle. The senior singled to bring home Morrison, with Allen advancing to third on the play. Sullivan was up next and plated Allen to get Western Michigan back to within two, 4-2.
 
The Tigers picked up an insurance run in the eighth, sending the game into the ninth with the hosts on top, 5-2.
 
With one out in the ninth, Sullivan launched a solo home run to left, WMU's first long ball of 2023, trimming the gap to 5-3. The comeback was halted there, however, as the next two Broncos were retired.
 
Dane Armbrustmacher earned the starting nod for Western Michigan and racked up six strikeouts over four and two-thirds innings of work. Hayden Berg then dealt the final three and a third frames for the Broncos and limited the Tigers to three baserunners while picking up a pair of strikeouts of his own.
 
Allen's sixth-inning single extended the shortstop's on-base streak to 29 consecutive games, dating back to the end of last season.
 
The Broncos and Tigers close out their three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. First pitch is set for 1:30 pm, and the contest will be available live on SECN+.