KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Senior catcher
Greg Budig hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to put Western Michigan in front, and the Broncos never looked back in an 8-4 win over Ball State on Sunday.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 8, Ball State 4
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (21-16, 12-6 MAC) | Ball State (25-15, 12-9)
W: Jayden Dentler (4-2) |
L: Nate Blain (1-3) |
Save: Hayden Berg (4)
Ball State grabbed an early edge with a run in the first and two more in the second.
Western Michigan began to chip away in the third, as
Jackson Kitchen drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on a balk, then scored on a
Cade Sullivan RBI single.
Kitchen was at it again for the Broncos in the fourth, this time beating out an infield single with the bases loaded and two outs to bring home Budig and cut the margin to one, 3-2.
In the fifth,
Josh Swinehart was hit by a pitch with two down to keep the inning alive for Budig. The senior backstop then drilled a 2-2 pitch to left center for his fourth home run of the campaign to put Western Michigan on top, 4-3.
Ball State had a pair of runners aboard with two outs in the sixth, but
Luke Thelen got a tapper back to the mound to extinguish the threat. The Cardinals then got a lead-off triple against the right-hander in the seventh, but he roared back with three straight strikeouts to once again preserve WMU's one-run cushion.
Still holding that one-run edge, Western Michigan picked up some breathing room with a four-run eighth. Kitchen executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt which allowed the charging
Grady Mee to score. A pair of two-out free passes then loaded the bases for Swinehart, who promptly emptied them with a three-run double.
The Cardinals picked up a run in the ninth and were threatening for more with two on and two outs, but
Dylan Nevar tracked down a line drive to deep left center and made a diving catch to seal the victory for Western Michigan.
Jayden Dentler bounced back after some early struggles and ended up facing just one more than the minimum in his final three full innings or work. The senior dealt 5.1 frames and yielded two earned runs while picking up four strikeouts to earn his team-leading fourth win of the season.
Hayden Berg worked the eighth and ninth frames for the Brown and Gold to earn his fourth save of the campaign. The trio of Dentler (4), Thelen (4) and Berg (2) combined to give the Broncos their second double-digit strikeout performance of the series.
Western Michigan hits the road for its next two Mid-American Conference weekends, starting next weekend with a three-game set at Akron. The Broncos and Zips are slated to open the series on Friday at 2:05 pm.
