KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After starting its 2025 campaign with 14 straight contests away from home, the Western Michigan baseball team returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field this weekend to begin its home schedule with a three-game series against Eastern Michigan. Due to Sunday's projected weather forecast, the series schedule has been altered and will now begin with a doubleheader on Friday.

SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (0-14, 0-3 MAC) vs EMU (7-7, 3-0)
Game One: Friday, March 14 | 12:05 pm (DH G1) | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
RHP Ty McKinstry vs LHP Drew Beckner
Game Two: Friday, March 14 | DH G2 | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
LHP Joey Wizceb vs RHP Tyler Kapa
Game Three: Saturday, March 15 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
RHP Zach Vriesenga vs RHP Bobby Jones

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan opens up its home schedule this weekend with a three-game series against EMU
• Due to Sunday's weather forecast, the series was altered to begin with a doubleheader on Friday
• The Broncos started their season with 14 straight games away from home
• WMU has the 20th-ranked strength of schedule in the nation per D1Baseball heading into the weekend
• Western Michigan comes into Friday with a 98-97 edge in the all-time series with Eastern Michigan
• Last season, EMU won two out of three against the Broncos in Ypsilanti
• The two teams split a four-game set the last time the Eagles came to Kalamazoo for a MAC series in 2021
• WMU dropped all three games at Ball State last weekend to open MAC play
• Ty McKinstry shut the Cardinals out over this final 6.0 innings on Friday in a 3-1 loss
• Tanner Mally comes into the weekend ranking second in the conference in average (.426) and OBP (.542)
• After going 5-for-10 last weekend at BSU, Grady Mee is up to a .357 average, 11th-best in the league
• The junior is riding a nine-game hitting streak and 13-game on-base streak to bump his OBP to .472
• Dylan Nevar needs seven RBIs to tie WMU's all-time record career record of 174
• He also enters the weekend two hits shy of 200 for his collegiate career

WELCOME HOME
After playing its first 14 games of the season away from home, Western Michigan returns to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field to open up its 2025 home slate with a three-game set against Eastern Michigan. Due to the weather forecast for Sunday, the series has been adjusted to begin with a doubleheader on Friday. 

POWER SCHEDULING
As has been the case the past several years, Western Michigan loaded up its non-conference schedule again in 2025, with eight of its first 10 contests against Power Conference foes Michigan State, Louisville and Georgia Tech. The Broncos are set to play a total of 13 games against the ACC and Big Ten, and are currently ranked as having had the 20th-most difficult schedule in the nation by D1Baseball.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Broncos are scheduled for 22 home games this season, their most since 2021. WMU is 22-9 at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field over the last two years, including a 20-7 mark in MAC games. Western Michigan heads into this year having won eight of their last nine MAC home series. 

LAST TIME OUT
WMU is coming off of a sweep at the hands of preseason MAC favorite Ball State last weekend. In the series opener, Ty McKinstry gave Western Michigan a career-high 7.0 strong innings, but the Cardinals took the contest 3-1. In Sunday's finale, the Broncos entered the ninth inning trailing 9-6, but Brendan Harrity tied it up with a three-run homer, WMU's first long ball of the campaign. BSU hit a home run of its own in the bottom half to take it 10-9. 

SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan comes into the weekend with a 98-97 edge in the all-time series with Eastern Michigan. Last year, the Eagles took two out of three in Ypsilanti. The two teams have not met in Kalamazoo for a MAC series since 2021, as the 2023 series was moved to Western Kentucky's campus in Bowling Green, Ky., due to weather. The two teams ended up splitting four games back in 2021. The Broncos are in search of their first series victory over EMU since sweeping a three-game series in Kalamazoo back in 2019. 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Eastern Michigan was one of three teams to sweep its first MAC series as it took all three contests at Akron. The Eagles have been one of the top offenses in the MAC thus far, hitting a league-leading .302 as a team and averaging a conference-best 7.7 runs per contest. EMU is also among the nation's best defensively, ranking second in the conference and ninth nationally with a .984 fielding percentage.

TANNER TEARING IT UP
After having limited at-bats as a true freshman last season, Tanner Mally has flourished at the top of Western Michigan's order. Primarily serving as the leadoff hitter so far, Mally enters the weekend second in the conference in both batting average (.426) and on-base percentage (.542). His 20 hits are two off of the league lead, and he's also tied for the team lead in both runs scored (10) and stolen bases (4).

LOOK AT MEE
After going 5-for-10 last weekend at Ball State, Grady Mee heads into the series riding a team-leading nine-game hitting streak and 13-game on-base streak. During the streaks, the junior has seen his batting average rise to .357, 11th in the MAC, and his on-base percentage jump to .472. 

MCKINSTRY MOWS 'EM DOWN
Right-hander Ty McKinstry gave the Broncos a career-high 7.0 strong innings at Ball State last week. He faced the minimum over six consecutive innings and retired 15 Cardinals in a row at one point. His seven strikeouts were one shy of his career high.

CHASING HISTORY
After setting a single-season school record by driving in a MAC-leading 71 runs in 2024, Dylan Nevar is closing in on WMU's all-time program record. With 167 career RBIs, he is seven away from tying former Bronco and Major Leaguer Matt Mieske's record of 174, amassed between 1987-90. Nevar is also knocking on the door of 200 career hits, as he enters the weekend with 198.