KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field this weekend as it welcomes Kent State to town for a three-game series. 

SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (10-12, 3-3 MAC) vs Kent State (11-12, 4-2)
Game One: Thursday, March 28 | 3:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
RHP Jayden Dentler vs RHP Jack Kartsonas
Game Two: Friday, March 29 | 3:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
RHP Brady Miller vs RHP Joe Miceli
Game Three: Saturday, March 30 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
RHP Nolan Vlcek vs RHP Calvin Bickerstaff

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan begins a three-game conference series against Kent State on Thursday
• The Broncos are 12-5 at home over the last two seasons and have won five straight MAC home series
• Kent State enters the weekend with an 86-84 advantage in the all-time series
• The Golden Flashes won all four meetings in 2023, including a win in the first game of the MAC Tournament
• KSU won three out of four in its last trip to Kalamazoo back in 2022
• The Broncos went 1-2 last weekend at Eastern Michigan in their first road MAC series of 2024
• In WMU's lone win of the series, Nolan Vlcek went a career-high 6.1 innings to pick up his first win
• Vlcek leads the league in ERA at 2.77 and is tied for 12th in the conference with 29 strikeouts
• Dylan Nevar drove in three runs on Sunday to retake the MAC lead with 31 RBIs
• CJ Richmond and Cade Sullivan are right behind Nevar, tied for second with 29 runs batted in apiece
• Sullivan is also the leading run-scorer in the MAC with 32
• As a team, WMU is atop the MAC in batting average (.306) and on-base percentage (.421)
• Sullivan is second in the conference in batting average (.418), while Richmond is third at .402
• Richmond (.520, 2nd), Sullivan (.495, 4th) and Jackson Kitchen (.453, 10th) are all among the conference leaders in on-base percentage

HOME SWEET HOME
Western Michigan returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field this weekend for a three-game home series against Kent State. The Broncos are 12-5 at home over the last two seasons and have won each of their last five home conference series. 

SERIES HISTORY
Kent State enters the weekend with an 86-84 edge in the all-time series between the two programs. Last season, the Golden Flashes won all four meetings, all of which took place down in Kent, Ohio. KSU swept the three-game regular season series between the two teams and then also topped the Broncos in the first game of the 2023 MAC Tournament, despite two homers by Cade Sullivan. The last time Kent State came to Kalamazoo in 2022, it took the first three games of a four-game series.  

WEEKEND RECAP
Western Michigan dropped two out of three to Eastern Michigan last weekend in its first MAC road series of 2024. The Broncos took an early lead in Saturday's opener on a three-run homer by CJ Richmond in the first inning, but fell, 11-4. The two teams then split Sunday's twin bill, with WMU coming out on top in the opener, 8-3, and EMU taking the finale and the series victory with a 3-0 win. 

NASTY NOLAN
In WMU's lone win in the series, right-hander Nolan Vlcek dealt a career-high 6.1 innings to pick up his first win as a Bronco. The senior enters the weekend with the best ERA in the MAC at 2.77. Vlcek leads Western Michigan in strikeouts with 29, tied for 12th in the conference, and also ranks 12th in the league with a .257 opponents' batting average.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
The Western Michigan offense enters this weekend's action atop the Mid-American Conference in both batting average (.306) and on-base percentage (.421), with both numbers ranking inside the top-50 in NCAA Division I. The Broncos are also second in the league in total runs scored (172), runs per game (7.8) and walks (123).

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
The middle of the order combination of Cade Sullivan, Dylan Nevar and CJ Richmond has been a huge part of WMU's offensive success thus far. Nevar paces the conference with 31 RBIs, while Richmond and Sullivan are tied for second with 29 apiece. All three rank among the league leaders in batting average, with Sullivan second (.418), Richmond third (.402) and Nevar 10th (.352). 

RAKING RICHMOND
CJ Richmond enters the weekend among the league leaders in numerous offensive categories, including batting average (.402, 3rd), on-base percentage (.520, 2nd), slugging percentage (.695, 4th), doubles (6, T-10) and homers (6, T-7). He had his 17-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, which was the longest by a Bronco in 2024. 

SWINGIN' SULLIVAN
Like Richmond, Cade Sullivan is all over the MAC leaderboards as well, leading the conference in runs scored with 32, and ranking in the top-10 in hits (38, 2nd), batting average (.418, 2nd), OBP (.495, 4th), slugging (.692, 5th), doubles (7, T-7) and home runs (6, T-7). 

WALK THIS WAY
Western Michigan ranks second in the MAC with 123 walks this season. Jackson Kitchen is tied for second in the conference with 19 free passes, while Michael Maloney is tied for seventh with 17. Kitchen and Maloney are two of the seven different Broncos who have drawn double-digit free passes so far in 2024.