KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Cade Sullivan hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday afternoon to give Western Michigan a 6-4 win over Ohio, securing the weekend series victory for the Broncos.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 6, Ohio 4
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (18-28, 15-10 MAC) | Ohio (18-27, 14-12)
W: Hayden Berg (1-1)
| L: Luke Olson (3-5)
With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth,
Will Morrison got things going for the Broncos with a single to right field. Sullivan then drove the first pitch he saw well beyond the left field wall to give Western Michigan its first walk-off victory of the season. It was the second career walk-off hit for Sullivan, who also had the most recent walk-off hit for WMU, a walk-off double in the first game of a doubleheader last year against Toledo.
The victory clinched Western Michigan's fifth MAC series victory of the season. The Broncos have won all three home conference series in 2023.
Ohio grabbed a second-inning run to take a 1-0 lead, which held up all the way until the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Western Michigan bats came alive in the bottom of the seventh. After a one-out free pass was issued to
Josh Swinehart, the Broncos put together three consecutive singles, with base hits by
Grady Mee and
Jackson Kitchen putting WMU in front, 2-1. After Morrison was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Sullivan added two more with a single to push the margin to 4-1.
Dane Armbrustmacher turned in another strong outing on the mound for the Broncos, as the lefty limited Ohio to one run on five hits over 7.1 innings in a no-decision.
Armbrustmacher ran into a bit of trouble in the eighth, as Ohio put runners on the corners with one out against the senior. WMU turned to
Hayden Berg out of the bullpen, and the righty collected a strikeout and then made a pickoff throw to third, which got the OU baserunner in a rundown, where he was eventually tagged out to end the threat.
The Bobcats were able to even up the contest in the top of the ninth, however, as the visitors pushed across three tallies to make it 4-4.
The Broncos take aim at a sweep of the Bobcats on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm from Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
