HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Western Michigan baseball team erased a 5-0 deficit, but ultimately fell, 6-5, in 11 innings in the opener of a three-game non-conference series at Northern Kentucky on Friday afternoon.
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky 6, Western Michigan 5 (F/11)
LOCATION: Bill Aker Baseball Complex (Highland Heights, Ky.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (0-4) | Northern Kentucky (4-1)
W: Clay Brock (1-0)
| L: Ryan Watt (0-1)
Northern Kentucky grabbed an early lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Norse tacked on two more in the third and another in the fourth to extend their lead to 5-0.
The Western Michigan offense got going in the fifth. With two outs,
Brendan Harrity doubled to bring home
Josh Swinehart.
Jimmy Allen followed with an RBI single which scored Harrity and trimmed the deficit to 5-2.
In the sixth,
Greg Budig blasted his first home run of the year, a two-run shot, to get the Broncos within one, 5-4.
Western Michigan then drew level with a run in the seventh, when
Will Morrison laid down a bunt which allowed Harrity to score.
Gavin Doyle followed with a base hit, but Allen was thrown out trying to score the go-ahead run for the Broncos.
Both teams' bullpens were stingy, and neither team had much in the way of threats after WMU tied the contest up at 5-5. In total, the Western Michigan bullpen yielded one run on three hits over seven innings of work.
Nolan Vlcek was first out of the WMU bullpen and worked his way out of potential trouble in the fourth and fifth innings to keep Northern Kentucky's lead at 5-0.
Joe Shapiro tossed a scoreless sixth frame for the Broncos, and
Hayden Berg then retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced, including the final seven in a row, in a scoreless four-inning stint which included four strikeouts.
NKU pitching kept the Western Michigan offense at bay after the seventh inning, as the Broncos managed to get just one runner into scoring position over the remainder of the afternoon.
In the bottom of the 11th, a one-out triple put the winning run at third base for Northern Kentucky. WMU intentionally walked the next two batters to set up a force play at any base, but the next Norse hitter was hit by a pitch to force in the game-winning run.
The Broncos and Norse continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm. Lefty
Dane Armbrustmacher (0-1, 7.71 ERA) will be on the mound for Western Michigan, while NKU will counter with right-hander Kaden Echeman (0-0, 4.15).
