KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team returns to Kalamazoo this weekend for its first Mid-American Conference home series of 2023 as it welcomes Akron to town for a three-game set.
There will be an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday beginning at 12:30 pm, leading up to the first pitch at 1:05. The first 50 children in attendance will receive a custom WMU bag to collect eggs.
SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (7-19, 4-5 MAC) vs Akron (12-16, 5-7)
Game One: Friday, April 7 | 3:05 pm |
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RHP
Brady Miller (2-3, 6.03 ERA) vs LHP Sammy Tortorella (3-1, 2.72 ERA)
Game Two: Saturday, April 8 | 1:05 pm |
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LHP
Dane Armbrustmacher (3-2, 5.89 ERA) vs LHP Brett Dietrich (6.16 ERA)
Game Three: Sunday, April 9 | 1:05 pm |
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FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball
LEADING OFF
- Western Michigan resumes MAC play this weekend with a three-game series against Akron
- This weekend marks the first conference home series of 2023 for the Broncos
- WMU holds a 32-23 lead in the all-time series against the Zips
- Last season, the two teams split a four-game series in Akron
- In 2021, the Broncos swept a four-game series from the Zips in Kalamazoo
- That sweep stands as the most recent sweep of a conference opponent for Western Michigan
- WMU is coming off of a 12-5 loss at Michigan on Tuesday
- Last weekend, Western Michigan took two out of three at Miami for its first MAC series win
- Brady Miller threw seven scoreless innings on Saturday to lead WMU to its first shutout of 2023
- WMU's shutout was the second of the season by a MAC team in conference play
- The other conference shutout was Akron blanking Ball State, 4-0, last Friday
- Cade Sullivan was named MAC Co-Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season
- Sullivan stayed hot on Tuesday at Michigan, going 2-for-5 with a homer and his first career triple
- Jackson Kitchen drew a walk against the Wolverines to extend his on-base streak to 22 straight games
- Kitchen's 22-game streak is the longest by a Bronco this season
RETURN TO THE MAC
Following its mid-week trip to Michigan, Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo to resume MAC play with a three-game series against Akron. This weekend marks WMU's first home conference series of 2023, as its first scheduled home MAC series of 2023 was relocated to Western Kentucky University due to weather.
WMU VS AKRON
Western Michigan holds a 32-23 record in the all-time series against Akron. The Broncos and Zips split a four-game series in Akron last season. The last time these two teams met in Kalamazoo, WMU swept a four-game series from the Zips back in 2021. That series is also the most recent sweep of a conference opponent for the Broncos.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Western Michigan begins the weekend with the 57th-most difficult strength of schedule in the NCAA. Of WMU's 26 games, 12 have come against teams ranked in the current top-100, including five inside the top-60 (three against No. 5 LSU and two against No. 56 Michigan State). Of the current top-100 teams in the RPI, WMU still has Notre Dame (No. 44) on the schedule, as well as three-game sets against Kent State (No. 68) and Central Michigan (No. 96).
SCOUTING THE ZIPS
Akron is coming off of a 9-2 loss to Eastern Michigan in a mid-week non-conference home tilt on Tuesday. The Zips took one out of three from league leader Ball State last weekend, making them the only team other than the Broncos to have defeated BSU in league play. The Akron win over the Cardinals was a complete game shutout by lefty Sammy Tortorella, who is slated to start the series opener.
LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan played the final of its six scheduled games against Big Ten competition on Tuesday, as it fell, 12-5, at Michigan.
Josh Swinehart and
Cade Sullivan, both homered in the game, with Sullivan's long ball his third in WMU's last four games.
MILLER MOWS 'EM DOWN
Brady Miller was dominant for the Broncos in last Saturday's series-opening win at Miami. The right-hander blanked the RedHawks during his seven innings of work and racked up a new career-high 10 strikeouts. Miller has fired seven scoreless innings in two straight MAC starts.
BRONCO BLANKING
Brady Miller worked the first seven innings and
Hayden Berg pitched the eighth and ninth frames on Saturday to help WMU pick up its first shutout of 2023. The shutout was just the second by a MAC team against a conference opponent this season, with the other instance a 4-0 Akron shutout victory over Ball State last Friday.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season,
Cade Sullivan was named MAC Co-Player of the Week on Monday. Sullivan hit .385 in the series at Miami, drove in five and homered in both WMU wins. He stayed hot on Tuesday, with a home run and his first career triple. Sullivan is tied for fourth in the MAC in homers (9) and tied for seventh in RBIs with 26.
MASHING MORRISON
Will Morrison leads Western Michigan in several offensive categories, including batting average (.354), on-base percentage (.444), hits (35) and runs (23). He ranks eighth in the MAC in batting average, tied for seventh in hits and 13th in OBP.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Western Michigan defense has turned 27 double plays this season, the most in the MAC and 12th-most in the country. The Bronco defense also ranks sixth in the nation with 1.04 twin killings per game. WMU is second in the conference and 46th nationally with a .977 fielding percentage.
BRONCO WORKHORSES
The duo of
Dane Armbrustmacher and
Brady Miller have made a combined 13 starts for Western Michigan so far this season and are among the conference leaders in both innings pitched and strikeouts. Miller is eighth in the MAC in innings (37.1) and tied for 15th in strikeouts (36), while Armbrustmacher is tied for 10th in the league in innings (36.2) and tied for ninth in strikeouts (42).
