KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team begins a stretch of five consecutive games against Big Ten opposition on Wednesday as it travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (5-12) at Michigan State (10-7)

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 22 – 3:05 pm

Site: McLean Stadium at Kobs Field (East Lansing, Mich.)

Video: BTN+

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan begins a stretch of five straight games against Big Ten foes on Wednesday at Michigan State
• Wednesday's matchup is the first game of a home-and-home between the Broncos and Spartans
• The return game between the two programs is set for next Wednesday, March 29, in Kalamazoo
• Western Michigan owns a 98-78 lead in the all-time series against Michigan State
• The two teams met twice last season, with each team winning on the other's home field
• The Broncos are coming off of a three-game series against Eastern Michigan
• The series was moved from Kalamazoo to Western Kentucky University due to weather
• Western Michigan took the series opener, but dropped the final two contests to the Eagles
• Will Morrison begins the week ranked third in the MAC in batting average (.424) and fourth in OBP (.494)
• Cade Sullivan blasted a pair of home runs over the weekend against Eastern Michigan
• The junior ranks among the league leaders in both home runs (6, T-5) and RBIs (19, T-8)
• Dane Armbrustmacher enters the week leading the conference in innings pitched (29.2)
• The senior left-hander is tied for seventh in the league with 31 strikeouts
• Defensively, the Broncos are third in the MAC and 39th in the nation with a .978 fielding percentage
• The WMU defense has turned a league-high 19 double plays, 11th-most in the country

BEGINNING OF A BIG STRETCH
Western Michigan begins a five-game stretch against Big Ten competition with Wednesday's game at Michigan State. The stretch then continues this coming weekend, as WMU is headed to Iowa City to face the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are ranked 20th in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top-30 poll. The Broncos then welcome MSU to Kalamazoo next Wednesday, March 29, for their 2023 Home Opener.

WMU VS MSU
The Broncos hold a 98-78 advantage in the all-time series against Michigan State. These two teams met twice last season, with WMU coming out on top, 18-7, in East Lansing, and the Spartans earning a 3-1 victory in Kalamazoo. A former assistant under Michigan State head coach Jake Boss, Billy Gernon is 5-13 against the Spartans during his time at the helm of the Broncos. 

BRONCOS AGAINST THE BIG TEN
Following its first two conference series of 2023, Western Michigan will step outside of MAC play for its next five games to take on Big Ten opposition. The Broncos have picked up 13 victories over Big Ten opponents under head coach Billy Gernon, with five of those wins coming over Michigan State. During Gernon's tenure, WMU has also beaten Northwestern (three times), Michigan (twice), Ohio State (twice) and Minnesota.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan took one out of three in its series against Eastern Michigan over the weekend. The Broncos took the opener over the Eagles thanks to a dominant performance from right-hander Brady Miller, but fell victim to an EMU rally in game two, and then dropped the rubber match on Sunday. This past weekend's series, originally slated to be the first home games of 2023 for WMU, was relocated to the campus of Western Kentucky University due to weather.

MILLER MOWS 'EM DOWN
Brady Miller turned in the best performance by a Bronco pitcher so far this season in Saturday's series-opening victory over Eastern Michigan. The righty was dominant from the start, as he set down the first eight Eagles he faced. He retired the side in order in four of his first six innings and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. In total, Miller shut EMU out on three hits over his seven innings of work and tied his career high with seven strikeouts. 

MASHING MORRISON
Will Morrison continues to lead the Western Michigan offense in several categories, including batting average (.424), on-base percentage (.494), hits (28) and runs scored (18). His average, OBP and hits total all rank in the top-5 in the conference.

WMU'S WORKHORSE
Dane Armbrustmacher continues to be a workhorse in WMU's weekend rotation. The lefty worked 6.0 innings for the fourth consecutive start on Saturday, and now leads the MAC with 29.2 innings pitched this season. Armbrustmacher continued to rack up the strikeouts as well, picking up five against EMU to give him at least five punchouts in all five of his starts this season. The Fowler, Mich., native is tied for seventh in the league with 31 strikeouts. 

SLAMMIN' SULLIVAN
Cade Sullivan hit a pair of home runs over the weekend against Eastern Michigan, bringing his team-leading total to six, tied for fifth-most in the MAC. Sullivan also leads the Broncos with 19 RBIs, which is tied for eighth-most in the conference. 

GAVIN GETS ON BASE
Gavin Doyle worked three walks in the series against EMU to boost his team-leading total to 14, ninth-most in the conference. 

DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Western Michigan defense has been solid through the first month of the season, ranking third in the conference and 39th in the nation with a .978 fielding percentage. WMU has been particularly adept at turning double plays, as it has turned 19 double plays this season, the most in the MAC and 11th-most in the country. The Bronco defense also ranks fifth in the nation with 1.12 twin killings per game.