AKRON, Ohio – Junior designated hitter CJ Richmond had a career-high four hits, including a pair of home runs, in a 12-10 Western Michigan loss at Akron on Sunday afternoon.
 
FINAL SCORE: Akron 12, Western Michigan 10
LOCATION: Skeeles Field (Akron, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (22-18, 13-8 MAC) | Akron (11-32, 6-15)
W: Spencer Atkins (2-7) | L: DJ Thompson (3-2) | Save: Sean Perkins (1)
 
Three of Richmond's career-high four hits went for extra bases, as he blasted two home runs and had a triple. It was his first multi-homer game as a Bronco. Richmond drove in four runs and scored four times, with both totals tying career highs.
 
Michael Maloney, Cade Sullivan and Dylan Nevar each had two hits and scored twice for the Brown and Gold, with Nevar also notching three RBIs.
 
Western Michigan came out of the gates quickly, starting the contest with four consecutive hits. Nevar opened the scoring with an RBI single, and Richmond then blasted a three-run homer to center field.  
 
Akron pulled a run back in the home half of the first, but WMU countered with three more in the second. Maloney led off with a double for the second straight inning, then scored on a Sullivan base hit. Nevar followed with a two-run blast to stretch the lead to 7-1.
 
The Zips answered with seven in the bottom of the second to take an 8-7 edge.
 
Richmond tied the game in the fourth with a solo home run, his team-leading 10th of the season.
 
Akron regained the lead with a pair in the fifth.
 
In the sixth, Richmond singled, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball, then came around on a Josh Swinehart sacrifice fly to close the gap to one, 10-9.
 
The Zips added a pair of insurance tallies in the eighth to push the margin to three, 12-9.
 
It was Richmond again who helped bring the Broncos closer in the ninth. He led off with a triple and then was brought home by Brendan Harrity to shrink the deficit to two, but WMU could not get any closer.
 
Western Michigan returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field on Tuesday afternoon as it welcomes Valparaiso to town for a non-conference tilt. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 pm. For tickets to any WMU baseball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.