KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Dylan Nevar broke a 5-5 tie with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Western Michigan baseball team to a 6-5 victory over Valparaiso on Tuesday.   
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 6, Valparaiso 5
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (13-27) | Valparaiso (8-31)
W: Matt Hoover (2-0) | L: Josh Cottrill (0-3)
 
Diego Pena led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a double for the Broncos, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position. After advancing on a sacrifice bunt, Valparaiso hit the next two WMU batters, loading the bases for Nevar. The redshirt senior drove a fly ball to deep right, which was plenty deep enough to bring Pena home and put the Brown and Gold in front, 6-5.
 
Now working with a one-run edge, Matt Hoover returned to the hill in the top of the ninth and set the Beacons down in order to seal the victory. Hoover fired 2.1 scoreless frames to earn his second win in the last week.
 
Both offenses were quiet in the early going. In his second career start, Jake Gernon blanked Valparaiso on one hit over 3.0 innings and recorded a season-high three strikeouts.
 
Western Michigan opened the scoring with a three-run third. Grady Mee got it started, drawing a walk, stealing second and then coming home on a base hit by Nevar, the first of Nevar's three RBIs in the contest. After Avery Thielman doubled to put runners on second and third, Michael Maloney produced a sacrifice fly to plate Nevar. Later in the frame, Thielman raced home on a wild pitch.
 
Scoreless innings from Joe Shapiro and Aiden Hinds kept WMU's lead intact until the top of the sixth, when a grand slam put the visitors in front, 4-3. The Beacons then tacked on an insurance run in the seventh to make it a two-run game.   
 
In the home half of the seventh, Nevar drilled a home run to right to close the gap to one. The Broncos then drew back-to-back walks to put the tying run in scoring position for Lucas Rick, who came through with a game-tying single.
 
Western Michigan resumes Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a critical three-game series against rival Central Michigan. First pitch for Friday's series opener between the Broncos and Chippewas is scheduled for 3:05 pm. For tickets to any WMU home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.