KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Greg Budig tied his career high with four runs batted in and
Brady Miller fired seven strong innings to lead the Western Michigan baseball team to an 8-2 series-opening win over Ohio on Friday.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 8, Ohio 2
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (17-28, 14-10 MAC) | Ohio (18-26, 14-11)
W: Brady Miller (6-4)
| L: Dillon Masters (2-2)
| Save: Hayden Berg (3)
The Broncos grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first, as
Jimmy Allen came through with a two-out, two-run double to put the hosts on top, 2-0.
Ohio answered with a run in the top of the second to cut the lead in half.
Budig collected the first of his career-high tying three hits in the fourth, as he launched a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, to left to extend the WMU edge to 4-1.
The junior showed off his arm in the next half inning, as he cut down a Bobcat trying to steal to help quell an OU threat.
The Bobcats pushed across one in the sixth, trimming the Western Michigan advantage to 4-2.
Still leading 4-2, the Broncos added four insurance tallies in the bottom of the eighth. Budig got it started with a two-run single to equal his career high with four RBIs for the day.
Grady Mee then brought
Josh Swinehart around with a single, and
Jackson Kitchen plated Budig with a sacrifice fly.
The WMU offense enabled Miller to pitch with the lead for the majority of the contest. The righty fired seven strong innings, yielding two runs and collecting three strikeouts. It was Miller's sixth quality start of the season, five of which have come against MAC opponents. He has won six of his nine starts in league play.
Hayden Berg then came on to toss the final two innings for Western Michigan, and the righty retired six of the seven batters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth. Berg picked up his team-leading third save of the season.
WMU and Ohio continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon from Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm.
