CARY, N.C. – New starting pitchers Ty McKinstry and Joey Wizceb shined in their debuts for the Western Michigan baseball team on Opening Day on Friday, but the Broncos ended up dropping a pair of close games to Michigan State, 2-0 and 6-3.
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Michigan State 2, Western Michigan 0 (F/7)
LOCATION: USA Baseball National Training Complex (Cary, N.C.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (0-1) | Michigan State (1-0)
W: Joseph Dzierwa (1-0) | L: Ty McKinstry (0-1) | Save: Logan Pikur (1)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Michigan State 6, Western Michigan 3
LOCATION: USA Baseball National Training Complex (Cary, N.C.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (0-2) | Michigan State (2-0)
W: Zach Maxey (1-0) | L: Joe Shapiro (0-1) | Save: Tyler Horvath (1)
 
The two transfers scattered five hits and did not allow any earned runs over a combined 11.0 innings of work against the MSU offense. McKinstry got the nod in game one, and did not give up a hit until an infield single in the fifth. That knock ended up being the lone hit surrendered by the right-hander, who tossed a six-inning complete game but suffered the tough-luck loss after Michigan State tallied a pair of unearned runs in the fifth.
 
Wizceb took the ball in game two and picked up where McKinstry left off. The southpaw worked around trouble in the first couple of innings, then faced the minimum over his final three frames, helping his own cause by picking a pair of runners off base. Wizceb gave the Broncos 5.0 shutout frames and yielded four hits.
 
After the Western Michigan offense was stymied in game one, the Broncos grabbed the lead in the third inning of the nightcap. Cooper Hums drew a leadoff walk, stole second and then scored on an RBI single by Tanner Mally. Mally went 4-for-4 and reached a total of five times in the second game of the day.
 
One batter later, Dylan Nevar picked up his first RBI of the new campaign as he brought Mally home with a base hit. WMU then made it 3-0 in the fifth when Mally scored on a wild pitch.
 
Michigan State came right back in the top of the sixth, as it plated four to go in front, 4-3.
 
WMU had runners on the corners with two down in the seventh, but was turned away.
 
The Spartans added a pair of insurance tallies in the top of the ninth to extend the margin to three. Mally led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, but was left stranded.  
 
The Broncos continue Opening Weekend 2025 on Saturday with a doubleheader against Dayton. The first pitch of game one against the Flyers is slated for 9:30 am on USABaseball.tv. Game two will follow roughly 30 minutes after the completion of game one.