KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team swept a doubleheader against Miami on Saturday, picking up 3-0 and 8-5 wins to clinch the weekend series victory and extend its winning streak to a season-high six in a row. The Broncos have won seven consecutive home MAC series.
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Western Michigan 3, Miami 0
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (17-13, 9-4 MAC) | Miami (14-17, 8-8)
W: Brady Miller (3-3) | L: Patrick Mastrian IV (1-3) | Save: Hayden Berg (3)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Western Michigan 8, Miami 5
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (18-13, 10-4 MAC) | Miami (14-18, 8-9)
W: Nolan Vlcek (3-0) | L: Nick Vardavas (1-4) | Save: Turner Doran (3)
 
Western Michigan pitching continued its recent dominance against Mid-American Conference opponents, starting the day with its second consecutive shutout in league play. Before Miami scored in the sixth inning of game two, the Brown and Gold had strung together a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings against conference opponents. Over its last four MAC games, WMU's opponents have managed to score in just two of 36 innings.
 
Brady Miller earned the victory in game one after going 7.0 innings for the third consecutive start. The redshirt senior scattered four hits and struck out four. At one point during the middle innings, Miller set down 11 consecutive RedHawks. Following Saturday's start, the right-hander ranks fifth in both innings pitched (269.0) and strikeouts (227) in WMU's career record book.
 
Game one was scoreless until the fourth, when Jackson Kitchen led off the home half of the frame with a solo home run down the right field line. Later in the inning, Dylan Nevar picked up the first of his team-high four hits on the day, an RBI double to right center which scored Michael Maloney. Greg Budig then followed with a sacrifice fly to plate CJ Richmond and make it 3-0.
 
With the Broncos still leading 3-0, Miami loaded the bases with one out against Miller in the seventh.The righty buckled down and got a ground ball to third, which Brendan Harrity threw home to cut down the lead runner at the plate, and then another grounder to second which got WMU out of the inning with its shutout intact.
 
Behind Miller, Hayden Berg retired all six RedHawks he faced, striking out five of them, over the final two innings to earn his third save of the campaign.
 
Pitching again dominated the early portions of game two, with Nolan Vlcek beginning his day by setting down the first seven Miami hitters in order. With two outs in the third, the RedHawks tried to score a runner from second base on a single to left field, but Josh Swinehart threw a strike from the outfield to the waiting Budig, who applied the tag well in front of home plate to end the threat.
 
The Broncos then opened the scoring in the home half of the third on a Kitchen lead-off homer, his second roundtripper of the day. Richmond nearly had WMU's second long ball of the inning, but Miami center fielder Zach MacDonald reached over the fence and took a home run away from Western Michigan's designated hitter. Maloney scored on the play, making Richmond's long out a sacrifice fly. The next batter, Nevar, blasted a no-doubter to right to extend the margin to 4-0.
 
WMU again got a lead-off homer to start a big inning in the fifth, with Cade Sullivan sending one over the fence this time, his team-leading eighth of the season. The Broncos then added a pair with two outs, as Budig came around on a wild pitch and Harrity brought Swinehart home with an RBI double to push the advantage to 7-0.
 
Miami got its only runs of the twin bill in the sixth, pushing across five to trim the gap to 7-5.
 
Western Michigan picked up an insurance run in the seventh. Swinehart led off with a double, was sacrificed over to third by Harrity and then scored on an RBI single by Grady Mee.
 
Vlcek picked up the game two victory for the Broncos after tossing 6.0 innings and tying his career high with seven strikeouts. Behind the senior, WMU turned to Luke Thelen, who struck out four while keeping Miami off of the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth frames. Turner Doran then set the RedHawks down in order in the ninth to collect his third save of the year. In total on Saturday, Bronco pitching racked up 21 strikeouts against just five walks.
 
Western Michigan goes for a sweep of its weekend series against Miami on Sunday afternoon from Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm. For tickets to any WMU baseball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.