MALIBU, Calif. – The Western Michigan baseball team scored 12 runs in the second inning on its way to a 19-1, seven-inning victory over Pepperdine on Sunday to complete a sweep of the four-game weekend series.
 
It marks the first four-game series sweep by the Broncos since they swept a four-game Mid-American Conference series from Akron back in April of 2021. The 19 runs were the most for Western Michigan since a 19-17 win over Bradley on Feb. 20, 2022, and the 12-run second inning was WMU's biggest scoring frame since it tallied 14 in the second inning in its single-game record-breaking 32-4 win at Alabama A&M on Feb. 22, 2020.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 19, Pepperdine 1 (F/7)
LOCATION: Eddy D. Field Stadium (Malibu, Calif.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (6-2) | Pepperdine (1-7)
W: Jayden Dentler (1-1) | L: Braden Guentz (0-2)
 
Western Michigan tallied its 19 runs on a season-high 17 hits and nine walks. Each member of WMU's starting lineup reached base and scored at least once, with six players scoring multiple times and five registering multi-hit games.
 
Jackson Kitchen reached base in all four of his trips to the plate and scored a career-high four times. Michael Maloney and Cade Sullivan had three hits and four RBIs apiece, while Brendan Harrity added three hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. Grady Mee went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, three runs scored and two runs batted in.
 
The Broncos opened the scoring in the top of the first, with Dylan Nevar bringing home Kitchen on a sacrifice fly. In the home half of the inning, the Waves got the leadoff runner on against Jayden Dentler, but the senior retired the next three to post a zero.
 
Western Michigan then erupted for 12 in the second. The first five Broncos to come to the plate in the inning all reached on walks, with Mee and Kitchen picking up RBIs for their free passes. Maloney earned his first RBI of the game the painful way, as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
 
The bases remained loaded for Sullivan, who brought home two with a single. Nevar and CJ Richmond then followed with run-scoring base hits of their own. After a ground ball scored Nevar, Harrity singled up the middle to make it 10-0. In their second plate appearances of the frame, Maloney had a two-run single and Sullivan capped the 12-run outburst with an RBI double.
 
Western Michigan continued to tack onto its lead in the third as it posted six more. Harrity, Mee, Kitchen, Maloney and Sullivan each added another RBI to their totals, with the sixth run of the frame coming around on a wild pitch.
 
Overshadowed by the offensive explosion was WMU's pitching staff. Dentler earned his first win as a Bronco after limiting the Waves to one run and striking out three over his 4.0 innings of work. The bullpen trio of Ryan Watt, Jake Gernon and Turner Doran each worked a perfect inning of relief to close the door on Pepperdine. In all, Western Michigan pitching retired the final 11 batters it faced in the contest. 
 
The Broncos head to the state of South Carolina for their next seven games, starting next Friday night, March 1, as they take on Michigan State at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., the home of MiLB's Greenville Drive. First pitch is schedule for 6 pm, and the game will be streamed on the Greenville Drive's YouTube channel.