KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team closes out the regular season with a three-game series against rival Central Michigan at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. 

Saturday is Senior Day for Western Michigan, with six seniors set to be honored during a pregame ceremony which will begin at approximately 12:40 pm. 

SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (19-28, 16-10 MAC) vs Central Michigan (32-19, 18-9)
Game One: Thursday, May 18 | 3:05 pm | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
Game Two: Friday, May 19 | 1:05 pm | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
Game Three: Saturday, May 20 | 1:05 pm | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan finishes out its regular season with a three-game series against Central Michigan
• Saturday is Senior Day, with six Broncos scheduled to be honored during a pregame ceremony
• WMU enters the weekend on a six-game home winning streak, its longest such streak since 2006
• The Broncos need one win (or one Ohio loss) to clinch a spot in next week's MAC Tournament
• It would be WMU's first trip to the MAC Tournament since 2017
• Central Michigan owns a slight 94-92-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two rivals
• CMU won three of the four meetings last season up in Mount Pleasant
• Back in 2021, it was WMU who won the series at home, taking three out of four in Kalamazoo
• The Broncos are coming off of a three-game sweep of Ohio last weekend
• The sweep was Western Michigan's third of the season, the first time its had three sweeps since 2012
• Cade Sullivan hit a walk-off home run on Saturday, his team-leading 16th homer of the season
• Sullivan is two homers away from tying WMU's single-season (18) and career (28) home run records
• In MAC play, Sullivan leads the league in both home runs (11) and RBIs (36)
• WMU's defense leads the MAC and ranks 18th nationally with 45 double plays
• The Bronco defense ranks second in the MAC with a .976 fielding percentage

HOME SWEET HOME
Western Michigan wraps up the 2023 regular season this weekend with a three-game series against rival Central Michigan. The Broncos enter the weekend 8-1 at home in MAC play this season and have won six consecutive home games. It is the longest home winning streak for WMU since a seven-game run during the 2006 campaign. 

SENIOR DAY
Saturday's regular season finale will also be Western Michigan's Senior Day, with six Broncos to be honored; Dane Armbrustmacher, Jimmy Allen, Bobby Dearing, Gavin Doyle, Will Morrison and Drew Szczepaniak are all set to play their final home games as Broncos this weekend. 

WIN AND YOU'RE IN
Following last weekend's sweep of Ohio, Western Michigan moved into fourth place and is on the brink of its first berth in the MAC Tournament since 2017 (the MAC did not hold a tournament in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19). The Broncos need one win, or one Ohio loss to Akron, to clinch a berth in next week's tournament, which will be hosted by the league's regular season champion. If WMU sweeps CMU, it will move past the Chippewas into third place. The Broncos can climb as high as the second seed with a sweep and a Kent State sweep against Ball State. 

WMU VS CMU
The Chippewas own a slim 94-92-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two rivals. Last season, CMU won three of the four meetings up in Mount Pleasant. Back in 2021, it was the Broncos who won the series at home, taking three out of the four games in Kalamazoo.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan is coming off of a sweep of a three-game home series against Ohio last weekend. Brady Miller turned in a strong outing on the mound and Greg Budig drove in four runs to take the opener, 8-2, on Friday, Cade Sullivan hit a walk-off home run in a 6-4 victory on Saturday, and Dylan Nevar then hit a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday to cap a 14-3 win. 

HOW SWEEP IT IS
Last weekend's sweep of Ohio was Western Michigan's third conference series sweep of the season, making it the first time the Broncos have accomplished that feat since the 2012 campaign. It also marked the first time WMU had swept Ohio since the 2011 season. 

WALKING IT OFF
Cade Sullivan hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday to give the Broncos a 6-4 win over Ohio. It was the second career walk-off knock for Sullivan, who also had WMU's most recent walk-off hit, a double against Toledo in last season's MAC opener. Prior to Saturday, Western Michigan's last walk-off homer was hit by Nate Grys against Miami (OH) on Feb. 23, 2018.

SULLIVAN OF SWAT
Cade Sullivan enters the weekend tied for third in the conference with 16 long balls and third in the league with 53 RBIs this season. In conference play, the junior is atop the league in both home runs with 11 and RBIs with 36. Sullivan's 16 home runs put him two shy of tying both the Western Michigan single-season (18) and career (28) program home run records. 

DYLAN'S DAMAGE
Dylan Nevar had a huge afternoon at the plate in Sunday's sweep-clinching victory, tying his career highs in both hits (4) and RBIs (6). The redshirt sophomore capped his big day with a game-ending grand slam into the right field corner. It was Nevar's second home run of the season, both of which have been grand slams. 

AWESOME ALLEN
Jimmy Allen has been one of the hottest hitters of late for WMU, as he owns a .408 average over the last four MAC series, three of which have been sweeps for the Broncos. During this run, the senior has bumped his average to a team-best .340 in MAC play.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
WMU has turned 45 double plays, the most in the league and 18th-most in the country. The Broncos rank second in the MAC with a .976 fielding percentage.

WESTERN WORKHORSES
Dane Armbrustmacher and Brady Miller have combined to make 25 starts for the Broncos so far this season. Miller leads Western Michigan and is third in the league with 76.1 innings, while Armbrustmacher has logged 75.0 innings, fourth-most in the MAC. The duo are both among the conference's strikeout leaders as well, with Armbrustmacher having racked up 82 (T-6 MAC, T-73 nationally) and Miller having totaled 78 (9th MAC, T-93 nationally). Miller enters the weekend tied for the league lead in conference wins with six.