CLEVELAND – Western Michigan junior designated hitter CJ Richmond has been named the MAC Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday. Richmond is the third Bronco to earn Player of the Week honors in 2024, joining Cade Sullivan and Grady Mee.  

Richmond had multiple hits in all four games on the way to hitting .667 (12-for-18) with seven RBIs and a 1.056 slugging percentage in a 3-1 week for the Broncos. The junior opened the week with three hits and three RBIs in Tuesday's 15-inning win over Valparaiso. In the 12th inning, he laced a triple to left center, and later scored to tie the game back up at 6-6 and keep WMU alive.
 
The Indianapolis native stayed hot in the weekend series at Bowling Green, going 9-for-13 (.692) and reaching base at a .714 clip against the Falcons. After picking up two hits and scoring a run in Friday's series opener, Richmond tied his career high with four hits on Saturday, including RBI singles in each of the first two innings as Western Michigan jumped out to a 4-0 lead in an eventual 6-4 victory. He capped his week with three more knocks, including a home run, and two more RBIs on Sunday as WMU clinched the weekend series with an 11-0 win over the first-place Falcons.
 
Richmond has recorded multiple hits in six consecutive games to raise his season batting average to .396, the second-best mark in the conference behind teammate Cade Sullivan. In MAC play, the duo is tied for fifth in the league with a .398 mark. Over the weekend, Richmond and Dylan Nevar each surpassed the 50-RBI mark for the season, making them the first WMU teammates to have 50 or more RBIs in the same season since Matt Mieske and Damon Saetre in 1989.
 
Western Michigan wraps up its stretch of road games on Tuesday afternoon as it visits Valparaiso. First pitch is scheduled for 4 pm on ESPN+.