KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team continues its seven-game trip to the state of South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon as it visits Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (6-5) at Presbyterian (7-5)

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 5 – 4 pm

Site: PC Baseball Complex (Clinton, S.C.)

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan continues its seven-game trip to the state of South Carolina on Tuesday at Presbyterian
• Tuesday's game marks just the second all-time meeting between the Broncos and Blue Hose
• The two teams met in Clinton last year, with PC coming out on top 17-11
• The Broncos went 0-3 over the weekend at the First Pitch Invitational I, falling to MSU, Illinois and Florida St
• Western Michigan is set for a total of 12 games against power conference foes this season (2-5 so far)
• WMU's offense continues to lead the MAC in a slew of categories, including team batting average (.325)
• The Broncos also pace the league in hits, runs, doubles, homers, walks, on-base percentage and slugging
• Western Michigan launched seven home runs over the weekend to move into the league lead with 13
• Six different Broncos went deep, with CJ Richmond hitting a pair of roundtrippers on Saturday
• Dylan Nevar (16), Cade Sullivan (15) and Richmond (14) rank second, third and fourth in the MAC in RBIs
• Sullivan is also second in the MAC with a .457 batting average and paces the league with 19 runs scored
• Five of WMU's regular starting nine have at least eight walks, led by CJ Richmond's nine
• Western Michigan reliever Nolan Vlcek owns the top ERA in the conference at 1.64
• On Saturday, the senior righty went a career-high 4.1 innings and struck out six against Illinois
• Vlcek's 16 strikeouts lead the Broncos and are tied for ninth-most in the conference

PALMETTO STATE OF MIND
Western Michigan continues its seven-game road trip through the state of South Carolina on Tuesday as it visits Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. The Broncos are slated to head back to Fluor Field in Greenville for the First Pitch Invitational II this coming Friday through Sunday to face Western Carolina, VCU and Michigan State. 

SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE
Tuesday's game will be the second all-time meeting between Western Michigan and Presbyterian, with the Blue Hose having knocked off the Broncos last year in Clinton, 17-11. PC is off to a 7-5 start and boasts the 59th-best team batting average in NCAA DI at .306. Joel Dragoo (.538) and Brody Fahr (.514) both rank among the top-15 in the country in average, with Dragoo leading the nation in RBIs (27) and sitting inside the top-10 with six homers.

WEEKEND RECAP
Western Michigan is coming off of an 0-3 weekend at the First Pitch Invitational I in Greenville, as it fell to Michigan State, Illinois and Florida State. After a rainout on Friday, WMU faced the two Big Ten foes in a doubleheader on Saturday, falling to the Spartans, 13-3, and the Fighting Illini, 8-6 in 10 innings. The Broncos closed out the weekend with an 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Seminoles, who remained undefeated on the young season.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Following this weekend's action, Western Michigan still leads the Mid-American Conference in a slew of offensive categories. The Broncos enter the week leading the league in runs (92), batting average (.325, 27th in NCAA DI), hits (124), doubles (22), home runs (13), on-base percentage (.434), slugging percentage (.495) and walks (63).

BRONCO BOMBS
The Broncos hit seven home runs over the weekend at the First Pitch Invitational I to bring their season total to a conference-leading 13. CJ Richmond homered in both games of Saturday's doubleheader, including a three-run, game-tying homer in the eighth inning against Illinois. He and Cade Sullivan are tied for the team lead with three home runs apiece. A total of six different players went deep over the weekend including redshirt sophomore Lucas Rick, who homered in the ninth inning on Sunday against Florida State in his first at-bat for Western Michigan. 

TERRIFIC TRIFECTA
WMU's Dylan Nevar, Cade Sullivan and CJ Richmond have been the top run-producing trio in the league this season, with Nevar second in the league in RBIs (16), Sullivan third (15) and Richmond tied for fourth (14). Sullivan has also scored a league-best 19 times, which is tied for 11th in NCAA DI. 

NASTY NOLAN
Nolan Vlcek gave the Broncos another strong outing out of the bullpen on Saturday as he went a new career-high 4.1 innings and fanned six against Illinois. The senior leads the MAC in ERA (1.64), is fourth in opposing batting average (.195) and tied for ninth with 16 strikeouts. Vlcek is third in the MAC with 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

WALK THIS WAY
Western Michigan's 63 walks lead the MAC, with five members of the regular starting nine having walked at least eight times. CJ Richmond leads the way with nine, tied for third in the league, while Greg Budig, Michael Maloney, Grady Mee and Cade Sullivan are all tied for fifth with eight.

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 nine double plays in 2024, second-most in the conference and 52nd-most nationally.