KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Senior first baseman Cade Sullivan drove in the 151st run of his Western Michigan career to move into third in program history in WMU's 6-3 loss to Ball State on Saturday.
 
FINAL SCORE: Ball State 6, Western Michigan 3
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (20-16, 11-6 MAC) | Ball State (25-14, 12-8)
W: Keegan Johnson (6-0) | L: Nolan Vlcek (3-1) | Save: Sam Klein (4)
 
With the 151st RBI of his WMU career, Sullivan broke a tie with Kris Gundrum (1996-99) for third all-time in program history. Matt Mieske (1987-90) holds the Western Michigan record with 174 career runs batted in.
 
The Cardinals opened the scoring for the second consecutive day, picking up a two-run homer in the top of the first.
 
The visitors then tacked on three more in the third to stretch their edge to 5-0.
 
Sullivan drove in WMU's first run of the day in the bottom of the third, as he plated Grady Mee with a sacrifice fly.
 
Nolan Vlcek got into a groove on the mound for the Broncos in the middle innings, retiring eight in a row at one point and setting down 10 of the final 11 Cardinals he faced. The senior fanned five over his six innings of work and kept BSU off of the scoreboard over his final three frames.
 
Western Michigan drew a run closer in the bottom of the sixth, as Dylan Nevar brought Sullivan around with a sacrifice fly.
 
Brendan Harrity raced home on a wild pitch with two outs in the seventh to trim the gap to 5-3, but the Broncos left the potential tying runs on base.
 
Ball State got an insurance tally in the eighth to push the margin back to three, and held WMU in check the rest of the way.
 
The Broncos and Cardinals close out their three-game weekend series 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.