KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team begins a four-game road trip on Tuesday as it makes the short drive to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (9-9) at Notre Dame (11-8)

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 19 – 4:30 pm

Site: Frank Eck Stadium (South Bend, Ind.)

Video: ACCNX

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan begins a four-game road trip on Tuesday as it visits Notre Dame
• The Broncos are 5-0 in true road games thus far in 2024 (4-0 at Pepperdine, 1-0 at Presbyterian)
• WMU is set to play 12 games against power conference teams in 2024 (2-6 so far)
• Notre Dame holds a 64-59-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs
• The Fighting Irish won last year's meeting, 2-1, in South Bend
• Western Michigan took two out of three from Toledo over the weekend in its first MAC series of the season
• The Broncos launched eight home runs in the series, a season-high seven of which came in the finale
• Dylan Nevar led the charge offensively with three homers, nine RBIs and seven runs scored for the series
• Nevar leads the Mid-American Conference and ranks 39th nationally with 27 RBIs
• As a team, Western Michigan sits atop the MAC in batting average at .315, which is 36th in the country
• Cade Sullivan (.403) and CJ Richmond (.391) are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the league in average
• The Broncos also pace the MAC in on-base percentage (.431), which is 30th-best in NCAA DI
• Sullivan is second in the conference in runs scored (26) and tied for fifth in RBIs (22)
• Richmond is tied for third in the league in RBIs with 23 and is fourth in on-base percentage at .506
• The Iowa Western transfer is also riding a 14-game hitting streak, the longest by a Bronco in 2024

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Following its first home series of the season over the weekend, Western Michigan heads right back on the road for four in a row, starting on Tuesday as it makes the short drive to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame. 

SERIES HISTORY
Notre Dame enters Tuesday's matchup with a 64-59-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Broncos. The two teams are meeting in South Bend for the second consecutive year, with the Fighting Irish having edged WMU, 2-1, in last year's contest. Western Michigan knocked off Notre Dame in 2019, which is also the most recent victory for the Brown and Gold against a current member of the ACC.

WEEKEND RECAP
The Broncos opened conference play by taking two out of three from Toledo over the weekend in what were the team's first home games of 2024. WMU tallied four runs in the eighth inning on Friday for a 7-5 come-from-behind victory, then split a high-scoring twin bill on Saturday. In the 15-6 victory over the Rockets in the finale of Saturday's doubleheader, Western Michigan hit a season-high seven home runs, including two each from Jackson Kitchen and Dylan Nevar. It marked the fifth consecutive home MAC series victory for the Brown and Gold, who are 11-3 over the last two seasons in conference home games. 

BRONCO BOMBS
Western Michigan hit eight home runs in Saturday's doubleheader against Toledo, including a season-high seven in game two. Dylan Nevar led the way with three on the day, including his fourth career multi-homer game in the finale. Jackson Kitchen also had a pair in the second game of the day, while Connor Ostrander hit his first collegiate home run, and Cade Sullivan and CJ Richmond went deep as well. Four of WMU's seven game-two home runs came in the eighth inning alone, during which Sullivan, Nevar and Richmond hit back-to-back-to-back round trippers. 

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Following its first conference series, the Western Michigan offense remains atop the MAC in both team batting average (.315) and on-base percentage (.431). The Broncos are among the national leaders in both categories as well, with the .315 average ranking 36th in NCAA DI and the .431 on-base percentage ranking 30th in the country.

DYLAN'S DAMAGE
Dylan Nevar had a huge weekend at the plate for the Broncos, going 7-for-13 (.538) with three home runs, nine RBIs and seven runs scored. He hit all three of his home runs in Saturday's doubleheader, and scored six times with seven RBIs in the twin bill. The redshirt junior leads WMU in homers with five and ranks atop the league with 27 RBIs, the 39th-most in the country. 

SWINGIN' SULLIVAN
Tied for the MAC lead in hits with 31, Cade Sullivan enters Tuesday with a .403 batting average, the fourth-best mark in the conference. The senior is also among the league leaders in runs (26, 2nd), RBIs (22, T-5) and total bases (49, 4th).

RAKING RICHMOND
CJ Richmond has been a huge addition to the Western Michigan lineup this season, ranking fifth in the league in batting average (.391), fourth in on-base percentage (.506) and tied for third in RBIs (23).

WALK THIS WAY
Western Michigan ranks second in the MAC and inside the top-60 in the country with 105 walks this season. Jackson Kitchen is tied for second in the conference with 16 free passes, while Michael Maloney is fifth with 15. Kitchen and Maloney are two of the six Broncos who have drawn double-digit walks so far in 2024.