MALIBU, Calif. – The Western Michigan baseball team took both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday against Pepperdine, 8-2 and 11-4, to secure a weekend series victory over the Waves. 
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Western Michigan 8, Pepperdine 2 (F/7)
LOCATION: Eddy D. Field Stadium (Malibu, Calif.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (4-2) | Pepperdine (1-5)
W: DJ Thompson (1-0) | L: Matthew Boyer (0-2)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Western Michigan 11, Pepperdine 4
LOCATION: Eddy D. Field Stadium (Malibu, Calif.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (5-2) | Pepperdine (1-6)
W: Matt Hoover (1-0) | L: Gunnar Nichols (1-1)
 
Cade Sullivan had multiple hits in both contests for the Broncos, totaling five for the day and scoring five times. Michael Maloney also scored five times across the two contests after picking up a pair of hits and drawing three walks. Grady Mee and Josh Swinehart both had two hits in each game, while Swinehart and Dylan Nevar recorded a team-high four RBIs apiece for the day. With his three RBIs in game two, Nevar surpassed 100 RBIs in his WMU career.
 
The first game of the day was scoreless until Western Michigan pushed across four in the third. Sullivan and Nevar got the Broncos going with back-to-back RBI singles, Greg Budig knocked in a run with a ground ball and Swinehart capped the frame with a two-out, run-scoring base hit.
 
Pepperdine pulled one back in the bottom of the fourth, but the Brown and Gold answered in the fifth as Jackson Kitchen plated Budig on a fielder's choice.
 
The Broncos then tallied three more in the sixth to put the game beyond reach. CJ Richmond brought in a run with a single, with Budig and Swinehart collecting sacrifice flies to stretch the margin to 8-1.
 
After WMU game one starter Luke Thelen yielded one run and struck out five in three innings, he turned things over to DJ Thompson. Thompson retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, with the one reaching on an error. The sophomore limited the Waves to one run on one hit over the final four innings to earn his first win of 2024.
 
The second game started in similar fashion, with Western Michigan again breaking a scoreless deadlock in the third. Nevar brought home the contest's first run with a double, and Ben Campos then delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0.
 
Matt Hoover took the ball for the Broncos in game two for his first career start. After Pepperdine pushed a run across in the third, the right-hander proceeded to retire the next seven batters in a row. The sophomore ended up going a career-high 6.0 innings and picking up three strikeouts to earn his first collegiate win.
 
Western Michigan was still leading 3-1 in the sixth inning when it erupted for five runs. Kitchen brought Campos around on a fielder's choice, and Maloney then doubled to bring Mee in to score. After a Nevar sacrifice fly, Swinehart delivered another two-out hit, this time scoring two with a single to stretch the lead to 8-1.
 
The Waves tallied two in the seventh and one in the eighth, but WMU responded with three of its own in the ninth on a Sullivan RBI single, a wild pitch which scored Maloney and another Nevar sac fly.
 
The Broncos take aim at a sweep of their four-game series against the Waves on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 pm on ESPN+.