KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team wraps up its regular season road schedule and its non-conference slate on Tuesday as it visits Valparaiso. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (16-27) at Valparaiso (17-21)

Date/Time: Tuesday, May 9 – 4 pm

Site: Emory G. Bauer Field (Valparaiso, Ind.)

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan finishes out its regular season road schedule on Tuesday at Valparaiso
• Tuesday's contest against the Beacons is also WMU's final non-conference contest of 2023
• Western Michigan leads the all-time series against Valparaiso 35-17
• The two teams are meeting for the first time since an 11-1 Valpo win on its home field on April 16, 2019
• The Broncos were scheduled to meet in Kalamazoo last week, but the contest was canceled due to weather
• In the 2019 meeting, Drew Szczepaniak got the starting nod for WMU and worked 1.2 innings
• Late in that contest, Gavin Doyle made the only pitching appearance of his collegiate career (0.1 IP)
• The Broncos dropped all three of their contests over the weekend at #23 Kent State
• Cade Sullivan had his five-game homer streak snapped, but remains tied for third in the MAC with 15 HRs
• The junior is fourth in the conference with 49 runs batted in
• Sullivan is three homers away from tying WMU's single-season (18) and career (28) home run records
• Gavin Doyle is hitting .405 with a .500 OBP in the last 10 games for the Broncos
• The seniors is two RBIs shy of 100 for his collegiate career
• WMU's defense leads the MAC and ranks 25th nationally with 41 double plays
• The Bronco defense ranks second in the MAC and 43rd nationally with a .978 fielding percentage

END OF THE ROAD
Western Michigan hits the road for its final road game of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon as it visits Valparaiso. Tuesday's contest is also the final non-conference matchup for the Broncos, who are set to end the regular season with six consecutive MAC home games. 

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Following its three-game weekend series at Kent State, Western Michigan has now played 12 of its 43 games against teams currently in the RPI top-100. Two other WMU opponents, Ball State (No. 102) and Michigan (106), are just outside of the current top-100, while Tuesday's opponent, Valparaiso (107), has been inside the top-100 at points this season as well. Overall, the Broncos boast the second-most difficult schedule in the MAC, as well as the second-hardest non-conference schedule in the league and 21st-most challenging non-conference slate in the nation.

WMU VS VALPO
The Broncos own a 35-17 advantage in the all-time series against Valparaiso. The two teams have not met since the Beacons picked up an 11-1 victory on their home field against WMU back on April 16, 2019. Since then, the two teams have had numerous scheduled matchups canceled. A home-and-home series between the two in 2020 was wiped out by COVID-19, while the 2022 home-and-home which was on the slate, as well as last week's scheduled meeting in Kalamazoo, were all canceled due to weather.

SCOUTING THE BEACONS
Valparaiso is coming off of a Missouri Valley Conference series loss at home against Southern Illinois over the weekend. The Beacons currently sit in seventh in the conference, with the top-8 teams reaching the MVC Tournament later this month in Terre Haute, Ind. The Valpo offense is hitting .275 this season, with Ryan Maka leading the way in several categories, including batting average (.355), hits (50), home runs (7) and RBIs (33).

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan is coming off of three losses at #23 Kent State in its final Mid-American Conference road series of the regular season. The Golden Flashes quieted WMU's bats in game one on the way to a 5-0 win, just the second time the Broncos have been shut out this season, and then rode double-digit scoring outputs over the final two days to finish out the series.

SULLIVAN OF SWAT
Cade Sullivan had his five-game homer streak snapped over the weekend at Kent State, but remains tied for third in the conference with 15 long balls and stands fourth in the league with 49 RBIs this season. In conference play, the junior has belted a league-high 10 home runs, and his 32 RBIs in MAC play are one shy of the league lead. Sullivan's 15 home runs put him three shy of tying both the single-season (18) and career (28) program home run records. 

CLOSING IN ON 100
Gavin Doyle has been one of the hottest hitters of late for WMU, as he owns a .405 average and a .500 OBP over the last 10 games. During that stretch, Doyle has five doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs. He enters the week at 98 career RBIs, making him two short of joining Cade Sullivan as the second Bronco to reach 100 in 2023. 

GETTING DEFENSIVE
WMU has turned 41 double plays, the most in the league and 25th-most in the country. The Broncos rank seond in the MAC and 43rd nationally with a .978 fielding percentage.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Led by Gavin Doyle's 13 doubles, WMU ranks third in the MAC and 47th in the country with 2.2 doubles per game. The Broncos set a single-season program record with 131 doubles last year and have 94 so far in 2023.

WESTERN WORKHORSES
Dane Armbrustmacher and Brady Miller have combined to make 23 starts for the Broncos so far this season. Miller leads Western Michigan and is fifth in the league with 69.1 innings, while Armbrustmacher has logged 67.2 innings, sixth-most in the MAC. The duo are both among the conference's strikeout leaders as well, with Armbrustmacher having racked up 78 (5th MAC, 56th nationally) and Miller having totaled 75 (7th MAC, 79th nationally). Both hurlers have won five of their eight starts in conference play.