KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team steps outside of conference play on Tuesday afternoon as it heads to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.
GAME INFO
Matchup: Western Michigan (1-16) at Michigan (11-8)
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 18 – 4 pm
Site: Ray Fisher Stadium (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Video: B1G+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball
LEADING OFF
- Western Michigan steps outside of conference play on Tuesday to take on Michigan
- Tuesday's contest will be the ninth for WMU this season against a Power Conference foe
- Following the weekend, Western Michigan has the 28th-ranked strength of schedule in the nation
- Michigan holds an 83-77-2 edge in the all-time series between the programs
- The Broncos won three of the five meetings between the two last season, including a win in Ann Arbor
- Western Michigan opened up its 2025 home schedule last weekend by taking one out of three against EMU
- The two teams split a doubleheader on Friday, with the Eagles taking the rubber match on Saturday
- Tanner Mally had another big weekend for the Broncos, going 5-for-10 with five runs scored and four RBIs
- The sophomore is second in the MAC with a .443 batting average and atop the league with a .541 OBP
- Grady Mee stayed hot as well, going 5-for-11 with three extra-base hits, including his first homer of 2025
- At .377, Mee's batting average is the seventh-best in the conference
- He also owns a 12-game hitting streak and 16-game on-base streak, the longest by a Bronco in 2025
- Dylan Nevar launched his first homer of the season on Saturday for his 200th career hit
- The redshirt senior needs five RBIs to tie WMU's all-time record career record of 174
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Western Michigan steps outside of conference play on Tuesday as it heads to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan. WMU has played 14 of its first 17 games away from home this year.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos opened up their 2025 home schedule over the weekend with a three-game series against Eastern Michigan. The two teams split a doubleheader on Friday, with EMU rallying late to take game one and Western Michigan posting season highs in runs (14) and hits (17) to take game two. In the game two victory, starter
Joey Wizceb tossed an 8.0-inning complete game, WMU's second complete game of the season. The Eagles then won Saturday's series finale to claim the weekend series.
POWER SCHEDULING
As has been the case the past several years, Western Michigan loaded up its non-conference schedule again in 2025, and had 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 28th-most difficult schedule in the nation. In addition to Michigan and MSU, the Broncos are also set to face Northwestern on March 25.
SERIES HISTORY
Michigan enters Tuesday's matchup with an 83-77-2 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. Last season, the Broncos and Wolverines met a total of five times, four out in Camelback Ranch, Ariz., and once in Ann Arbor. After splitting the four games in the desert to open the season, WMU won the final meeting of the year on the road, 10-9, with a
Josh Swinehart ninth-inning grand slam completing the comeback for the Brown and Gold.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
The Wolverines come into Tuesday's matchup at 11-8 overall and are 3-3 in Big Ten play after dropping two out of three over the weekend to USC. U-M's Mitch Voit leads the Big Ten in both batting average (.451) and doubles (11), and also paces the Michigan offense in home runs (5), RBIs (28) and runs scored (19).
TANNER AT THE TOP
After having limited at-bats as a true freshman last season,
Tanner Mally has flourished at the top of Western Michigan's order in 2025. The sophomore had another big series for the Broncos against Eastern Michigan, going 7-for-14 at the dish with team highs in runs scored (5) and RBIs (4). Mally's weekend included a four-hit, four-RBI performance in the second game of Friday's twin bill, both of which were career highs. At .443, he owns the second-best batting average in the conference and 39th-best mark in the nation. His on-base percentage is up to a MAC-leading .541.
LOOK AT MEE
Grady Mee also continued to swing a hot bat against the Eagles, going 5-for-11 (.455) with three extra-base hits, including his first home run of the season. The Toledo, Ohio, native reached base at a .571 clip and also swiped a pair of bases. He comes into Tuesday riding a 12-game hitting streak and 16-game on-base streak, both the longest by a Bronco so far this season. For the year, Mee is hitting .377, which is seventh in the conference.
OSTRANDER'S OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Connor Ostrander has heated up with the start of conference play over the last two weekends, owning a .381 average through the first two MAC series. The junior had a pair of multi-hit games against Eastern Michigan, including picking up three hits, three RBIs and three steals in the opening game of Friday's doubleheader.
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 169 career RBIs, he is five away from tying former Bronco and Major Leaguer Matt Mieske's record of 174, amassed between 1987-90. On Saturday against Eastern Michigan, Nevar homered in the sixth inning for his 200th hit as a Bronco.
