KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team opened up its three-game weekend series against Akron on Friday by sweeping a doubleheader, 6-1 and 14-8. In the sixth inning of game two, WMU redshirt senior Dylan Nevar became the program's all-time leader in career RBIs.
 
FINAL SCORE (G1): Western Michigan 6, Akron 1
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (3-16, 2-5 MAC) | Akron (6-15, 0-7)
W: Ty McKinstry (1-4) | L: Jared Schaeffer (0-4) | Save: DJ Thompson (1)
 
FINAL SCORE (G2): Western Michigan 14, Akron 8
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (4-16, 3-5 MAC) | Akron (6-16, 0-8)
W: Joey Wizceb (2-3) | L: Brett Dietrich (0-1)
 
The record-breaker for Nevar was a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning in the second game of the twin bill. It was part of a three-RBI performance for the Wisconsin Dells, Wis., native to bring his career total to 176, surpassing the previous record of 174 set by Matt Mieske from 1987-90.
 
Pitching was the story for the Broncos in game one, with Ty McKinstry limiting the Akron offense to one hit over his 6.0 scoreless innings. The junior right-hander struck out three and retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced to pick up his first victory for the Brown and Gold.
 
Western Michigan got McKinstry the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Tanner Mally led off the frame with a bunt single, was sacrificed over to second base, and then scored on a base hit by Michael Maloney.
 
The Broncos added another in nearly identical fashion in the fifth. Brendan Harrity started the inning with a walk, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt and then came in on an Avery Thielman RBI single. Thielman then made it 3-0 in the seventh with a double which brought Nevar in to score.
 
WMU tacked on three more insurance runs in the eighth. Harrity delivered a two-out single which brought home a pair, and Thielman worked a walk with the bases loaded for his career-high third RBI of the contest.
 
Behind McKinstry, DJ Thompson worked the final three frames to shut the door for the Brown and Gold and earn his first career save.
 
Akron grabbed the early advantage in game two, plating three in the top of the first.
 
Western Michigan answered with tallies in the first and second frames, with Maloney and Chris Akers collecting RBI singles to close the gap to 3-2.
 
The Zips pushed across one in the third to briefly regain a two-run cushion, but the Broncos evened it up in the home half on run-scoring knocks by Harrity and Connor Ostrander.
 
Grady Mee put Western Michigan in front with a two-run shot in the fourth inning, his second long ball of the year.
 
Akron got a home run of its own in the fifth, shrinking WMU's lead to 6-5.
 
The Broncos tallied five in the sixth to gain a bit of separation. Mee walked with the bases loaded to score Marwynn Matthews Jr., Akers scored on a passed ball, and Mally then raced home on a wild pitch. Nevar capped the outburst with his record-breaking, two-run single, which extended the margin to 11-5.
 
Joey Wizceb took the ball for Western Michigan in game two and settled in after the first inning, limiting Akron to a pair of runs over his final 5.0 frames. The southpaw totaled four strikeouts in the contest and retired the final six Zips he faced to pick up his second consecutive win.
 
The lead ballooned to 14-5 in the seventh, as Mally, Mee and Nevar each brought in a run. Mee scored a career-high four times and equaled his career-best with four RBIs in game two.
 
Akron wrapped up the day's scoring with two in the eighth and one in the ninth.
 
The Broncos and Zips are slated to close out their three-game series on Saturday. First pitch from Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field is scheduled for 1:05 pm. For tickets to any WMU home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.