KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After sweeping a four-game series at Pepperdine last weekend, the Western Michigan baseball team begins a seven-game trip to South Carolina with the first weekend of the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, S.C.

*Due to rain, Friday's tournament games were pushed to Saturday, altering the weekend's schedule. The updated schedule is listed below. 

WEEKEND INFO
Game One: Saturday, March 2 | 9 am | Western Michigan vs. Michigan State | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
RHP Brady Miller vs LHP Joseph Dzierwa
Game Two: Saturday, March 2 | 4 pm | Western Michigan vs. Illinois | WATCH LIVE
RHP Matt Hoover vs RHP Logan Tabeling
Game Three: Sunday, March 3 | Western Michigan vs. Florida State | 3 pm | WATCH LIVE

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan begins a stretch of seven straight games in South Carolina this weekend in Greenville
• This weekend marks the fifth, sixth and seventh games for the Broncos against Power Five programs
• Western Michigan is set for a total of 12 games against power conference foes this season (2-2 so far)
• WMU swept a four-game set at Pepperdine last weekend, its first four-game sweep since 2021 (Akron)
• At 6-2, the Broncos are off to their best start since 2008 when they started 7-2
• WMU's 19 runs on Sunday were its most since February of 2022 (W, 19-17 vs. Bradley)
• Western Michigan's offense leads the MAC in runs, runs/game, batting average and on-base percentage
• Grady Mee was named MAC Player of the Week on Monday, the second straight award for a Bronco
• For the weekend, Mee was 8-for-14 (.571), with eight runs, six RBIs, a .684 OBP and a grand slam
• Cade Sullivan ranks top-5 in the country in both runs/game (2.1, 2nd) and total runs scored (17, 4th)
• Dylan Nevar is tied for the MAC lead with 14 RBIs and surpassed 100 for his WMU career last weekend
• Western Michigan boasts three of the top-5 on-base percentages in the conference
• Sullivan leads the way at .643, CJ Richmond is second (.605) and Mee is fifth (.579)

PALMETTO STATE OF MIND
Western Michigan begins a seven-game trip to the state of South Carolina this weekend as it travels to Greenville, home of MiLB's Greenville Drive, for the First Pitch Invitational I. The Broncos take on Michigan State on Friday, Illinois on Saturday and Florida State on Sunday.  

THE OPPONENTS
Friday marks the first of three meetings this season between the Broncos and the Spartans. WMU owns a 98-80 advantage in the all-time series against MSU. Western Michigan is 10-20 all-time against Illinois, with the last meeting between the two coming in 2017. The Brown and Gold are 8-6 against Florida State, with the two teams having not played each other since 1974.

POWER SCHEDULING
After owning the 33rd-most difficult non-conference schedule in the nation last season, the Broncos are at it again, with 12 games against power conference teams on the slate (10 Big Ten, 2 ACC). Western Michigan is 2-2 against power conference teams so far this season, having split an Opening Weekend series against Michigan. 

BRONCOS SWEEP IN MALIBU
Western Michigan is coming off of a four-game sweep at Pepperdine last weekend, the first time it had swept a four-game set since brooming a four-gamer against Akron in April of 2021. In the series finale, the Broncos tallied 19 runs, their most since February of 2022, including 12 in the second inning. The 12-run second was WMU's biggest single-inning output since it pushed across 14 in the second inning of its single-game record-breaking 32-4 win at Alabama A&M on Feb. 23, 2020. The sweep improved the Brown and Gold to 6-2 on the young season, marking their best start since they opened the 2008 campaign at 7-2. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A Bronco took home MAC Player of the Week honors for the second straight week, as Grady Mee was honored on Monday after going 8-for-14 (.571) at the plate with eight runs scored, six RBIs and a .684 on-base percentage against Pepperine. The sophomore had two hits and scored at least once in each of the four games, starting on Friday when he hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to put Western Michigan on top, 6-4. The Broncos went on to win that game 11-4 and after his grand slam, did not trail for the rest of the weekend. Mee capped his weekend by going 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored on Sunday as the Brown and Gold finished their four-game weekend sweep with a 19-1 victory. 

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Western Michigan leads the MAC and has had one of the best offenses in the nation thus far, leading the conference in total runs (80, 34th in NCAA DI), runs/game (10.0, 28th), hits (101, 17th), batting average (.358, 12th), walks (52, 40th) and on-base percentage (.474, 11th).

THE 3-4 PUNCH
Three-hole hitter Cade Sullivan and cleanup batter Dylan Nevar have been a huge part of WMU's offensive success thus far this season, with Sullivan leading the league in runs (17, 4th in NCAA DI), runs per game (2.1, 2nd), hits (19, 5th) and OBP (.643, 21st). Nevar has taken advantage of Sullivan getting on in front of him to enter the weekend tied for the league lead in RBIs  with 14, which is 30th nationally. 

WALK THIS WAY
Iowa Western CC transfer CJ Richmond has been a welcome addition to the lineup this season, as he is currently tied for the MAC lead with nine walks. The junior boasts a robust .605 on-base percentage, which is second in the conference and among the top-50 in NCAA Division I. 

GETTING DEFENSIVE
WMU turned 49 double plays in 2023, the most in the league and 27th-most in the country. The Broncos have picked up right where they left off, turning seven double plays through two weekends, which is tied for the most in the conference and is among the top-50 nationally.