KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Redshirt junior left fielder Dylan Nevar hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 15th inning to lift Western Michigan to an 8-6 non-conference victory over Valparaiso on Tuesday. It marked the first walk-off win of the season for the Broncos.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 8, Valparaiso 6 (F/15)
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (23-18) | Valparaiso (13-29)
W: DJ Thompson (4-2) | L: Jake Jakubowski (1-2)
 
The contest moved into extra innings all knotted at 5-5, and stayed that way until Valparaiso pushed across a run in the top of the 12th.
 
In the home half, CJ Richmond led off with a triple, then scored on a Josh Swinehart sacrifice fly to tie it back up at 6-6.
 
The score remained 6-6 until the bottom of the 15th. With one out, Cade Sullivan drew a walk and the Beacons went to the bullpen. Nevar then sent an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right center to win it for Western Michigan. It was the first walk-off home run for the Broncos since Sullivan hit a walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth on May 13, 2023 against Ohio.
 
The ninth pitcher of the day for WMU, DJ Thompson earned the win after posting scoreless frames in the 14th and 15th. The sophomore is now tied with Jayden Dentler for the team lead with four wins.
 
In total, the Western Michigan pitching staff racked up a season-high tying 14 strikeouts and limited Valpo to two runs over the final 10 frames of the day. Joe Shapiro (1.0 IP), Zach Vriesenga (1.0), Hayden Berg (3.0), Luke Thelen (1.2) and Thompson (2.0) all had scoreless outings out of the WMU bullpen.
 
Offensively, Michael Maloney's career-high four hits led the way, with Richmond contributing three knocks and a team-high three RBIs in the contest. Sullivan reached base four times, on two hits and two walks, and paced WMU with three runs scored.
 
Richmond, who had multiple hits for the third straight game, got the WMU offense going with a two-run single in the bottom of the first.
 
Valpo answered in the next half inning with a pair to even the score at 2-2.
 
The Beacons grabbed the lead with one in the third and another in the fifth.
 
In the home half of the fifth, Richmond brought Sullivan home with a sacrifice fly to trim the gap to one. Swinehart and Greg Budig then followed with back-to-back run-scoring doubles to put the Broncos back in front, 5-4.
 
Valparaiso then tied it up with a two-out run in the top of the eighth.
 
Western Michigan hits the road for the second consecutive weekend as visits MAC leader Bowling Green for a three-game series. The series is set to begin on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 3 pm.