KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team launched eight home runs on Saturday, including a season-high seven in game two, as it split a doubleheader with Toledo. The Rockets took the first contest of the day, 21-14, and WMU then bounced back to take the finale, 15-6, to claim the weekend series victory. Going back to last season, the Broncos have won five consecutive MAC home series.
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Toledo 21, Western Michigan 14
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (8-9, 1-1 MAC) | Toledo (8-11, 4-1)
W: Jacob Tabor (2-0) | L: Mike Kelly (0-1)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Western Michigan 15, Toledo 6
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (9-9, 2-1 MAC) | Toledo (8-12, 4-2)
W: Luke Thelen (1-2) | L: RJ Shunck (1-2)
 
Five different Broncos contributed to WMU's eight-homer day, with Dylan Nevar launching three round trippers, scoring a team-high six times and driving in a team-high seven runs. Nevar tied his career high with four hits in game one and went 6-for-9 overall in the two games. Jackson Kitchen joined Nevar with a pair of home runs in game two, while Connor Ostrander, CJ Richmond and Cade Sullivan homered in the finale as well.
 
Richmond and Sullivan each went 5-for-10 on Saturday and scored a combined nine times. With multiple hits in both games, Richmond now has a team-high nine multi-hit games this season and has hit safely in 14 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Bronco in 2024.
 
Nevar got the ball rolling in game one with a first-inning RBI single, and Maloney then followed with a two-run triple. Maloney tied his career high with four RBIs in the opener. WMU added four in the second on a Sullivan RBI double, a run-scoring single by Richmond, and Nevar's first home run of the day, a two-run shot, to make it 7-0.
 
The Rockets came back to even the score at 7-7 with one in the third and six in the fourth, then grabbed a 10-7 edge with a three-run sixth.
 
Western Michigan countered with three of its own in the bottom of the sixth, with Greg Budig doubling in a pair and then scoring the tying run on an error.
 
Toledo regained the lead with a nine-run seventh.
 
The Broncos pulled two back in the home half of the seventh on a Maloney two-run double, and two more in the eighth on a Sullivan RBI single and a wild pitch which allowed Kitchen to come home. WMU brought the tying run to the on-deck circle with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but left the bases loaded in the frame.
 
The Rockets wrapped up game one with two ninth-inning tallies.
 
Western Michigan again jumped out to an early lead in game two, with Richmond and Budig collecting RBI singles in the first inning. Nevar made it 5-0 in the second with a three-run homer to straightaway center.
 
Toledo notched a pair of runs in the top of the third, but Ostrander answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, his first home run for the Brown and Gold.
 
The Rockets registered a pair of home runs of their own in the fourth to close the gap to one, 6-5. Luke Thelen came on in relief with two outs and got an inning-ending pop up to leave the tying run on base.
 
Kitchen led off the bottom of the fourth with the first of his home runs, only to see Toledo get an unearned run back in the next half inning to once again shrink the margin to one, 7-6.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Maloney delivered a two-out single which brought in Grady Mee and made it 8-6.
 
Toledo threatened against Thelen in the sixth, but the right-hander recorded all three outs via the strikeout to again strand the potential tying runs on base.
 
The game remained at 8-6 until the eighth, when Western Michigan erupted for four home runs in a seven-run frame. After Maloney opened the inning with a single, the Broncos got back-to-back-to-back home runs from Sullivan, Nevar and Richmond to make it 12-6. One out later, Brendan Harrity notched an RBI single, and Kitchen then capped the outburst with a two-run shot to give him the first multi-homer game of his WMU career.
 
On the mound, the trio of Jayden Dentler (6), Thelen (6) and Turner Doran (2) racked up 14 strikeouts, a new season high for the Bronco pitching staff. Thelen grabbed his first win of the season after going 4.1 innings without allowing an earned run. The six strikeouts established a new season high for the right-hander. Doran then came on for the ninth and fanned a pair of Rockets to close out the series win for WMU.
 
Western Michigan hits the road for its next four games, starting on Tuesday as it steps outside of conference play to face Notre Dame. The Broncos and Fighting Irish are slated for a 4:30 pm first pitch.