TOLEDO, Ohio – The Western Michigan baseball team rallied from a five-run deficit by scoring six in the ninth, but Toledo hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to claim a 9-8 victory on Friday in the middle game of the two teams' three-game set.
 
FINAL SCORE: Toledo 9, Western Michigan 8
LOCATION: Scott Park (Toledo, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (10-25, 6-11 MAC) | Toledo (15-22, 9-11)
W: RJ Shunck (2-1) | L: Turner Doran (0-2)
 
Toledo held a 7-2 advantage as the contest moved to the ninth inning. Western Michigan started its rally with three consecutive hits, the last of which was a two-run double by Lucas Rick. Another base hit and a walk loaded the bases for the Broncos and brought it back to the top of their order.
 
Tanner Mally and Grady Mee were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded, bringing WMU to within one. The bags remained full for Dylan Nevar, who grounded one sharply through the right side to bring home a pair and put Western Michigan on top, 8-7. The two-run single was part of a season-high tying four-RBI day for Nevar.
 
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Rockets hit a walk-off, two-run homer to claim the win and the series victory.
 
Toledo struck first for the second straight day, tallying the game's first run in the bottom of the second. The hosts then tacked on two in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 4-0 advantage into the sixth.
 
After having limited success in the early stages of the contest, Western Michigan's offense started to get going in the sixth. Mee laid down a perfect bunt single with two outs to keep the inning alive for Nevar. The redshirt senior then proceeded to launch a two-run homer to right field, his team-leading fourth of the year, to trim the deficit to 4-2.
 
The score remained the same until the Rockets pushed across three with two outs in the eighth to build the margin to 7-2.
 
Western Michigan and Toledo close out their three-game series on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm on ESPN+.