KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team welcomes rival Central Michigan to town this weekend for a crucial Mid-American Conference series.

SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (13-27, 8-13 MAC) vs CMU (17-27, 9-12)
Game One: Friday, May 2 | 3:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Game Two: Saturday, May 3 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Game Three: Sunday, May 4 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan welcomes in rival Central Michigan for a critical three-game MAC series this weekend
• WMU is 8-5 at home this season and 30-14 overall in its own ballpark over the last three years
• Western Michigan has won 10 of its last 12 home conference series
• The Broncos enter the series one game back of CMU and EMU for the sixth and final MAC Tournament spot
• Central Michigan holds a 97-96-1 edge in the all-time series between the two rivals
• Western Michigan has won the regular season series each of the last two seasons
• The Broncos have also taken three straight series from the Chippewas in Kalamazoo
• Western Michigan is coming off of a 6-5 win over Valparaiso on Tuesday
• Dylan Nevar drove in three runs in the victory, including the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth
• The redshirt senior also hit his sixth home run of the season, tying him with Lucas Rick for the team lead
• Nevar enters the weekend three home runs from tying Cade Sullivan's career record of 38 homers
• In MAC play, Ty McKinstry is first in the league in opposing batting average (.189) and third in ERA (2.85)
• Grady Mee leads the MAC in stolen bases with 21, while Tanner Mally is tied for sixth with 14
• Mally comes in to the weekend 12th in the league with a .344 batting average

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME
Western Michigan begins its final stretch of MAC play this weekend as it welcomes rival Central Michigan to Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field for a critical three-game series. Entering the final three weekends of the regular season, Toledo (10-11), Eastern Michigan (9-12), CMU (9-12) and WMU (8-13) are all within two games of one another in the fifth through eighth spots in the conference standings. The top-6 teams will advance to the MAC Tournament in Avon, Ohio, from May 21-24.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Brown and Gold come into the weekend 8-5 at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field in 2025 and 30-14 at their home ballpark over the last three seasons. During that stretch, Western Michigan is 26-10 in MAC games and has won 10 of its last 12 home conference series. The Broncos took two out of three from Bowling Green in their most recent home MAC series from April 11-13.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a 6-5 win at Valparaiso on Tuesday. With the contest tied 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Dylan Nevar hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field, bringing Diego Pena in to score the decisive run. It was the third RBI of the contest for Nevar, who had homered earlier in the contest to tie Lucas Rick for the team lead with six. Following Nevar's sac fly, Matt Hoover returned to the hill for Western Michigan and set the Beacons down in order to collect his second win in the last week. 

SERIES HISTORY
Central Michigan holds a 97-96-1 advantage in the all-time series between these two rivals. Western Michigan has won the regular season series each of the last two seasons, and has won three consecutive series in Kalamazoo. Last year, WMU's win on the final day of the regular season in Mount Pleasant clinched the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament for the Brown and Gold, while the series-opening victory in Kalamazoo in 2023 clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament for the Broncos.

SCOUTING THE CHIPPEWAS
CMU is coming off of a home series loss against first-place Ball State, salvaging the final game of the series against the Cardinals to avoid a sweep. The Chippewas shut out BSU in that contest, their second of the season and first in MAC play. Central Michigan ranks fourth in the conference with a 6.12 ERA, and owns a 5.41 mark in league action.

McKINSTRY MOWS DOWN THE MAC
Friday starter Ty McKinstry has shined in his first season at Western Michigan, ranking among the league leaders in several categories, including opposing batting average (.229, 4th), innings pitched (57.1, 7th) and ERA (4.87, 9th). The junior has taken things to another level in conference play, having gone at least 5.0 innings while allowing three earned runs or fewer in six of his seven MAC starts. In league play, McKinstry is first in opposing batting average (.189) and third in ERA (2.85), while ranking fifth in the conference with 41.0 innings pitched.

NEVAR CONTINUES TO MAKE HISTORY
Dylan Nevar has broken a pair of WMU career records this season, breaking Matt Mieske's (1987-90) all-time RBI record on March 21 against Akron and Chris Lewis' (2007-10) all-time total bases record last weekend at Northern Illinois. After hitting his sixth home run of the season on Tuesday against Valparaiso, Nevar is closing in on WMU's career home run record as well, which is held by former teammate Cade Sullivan (2021-24), who hit 38. Nevar enters this weekend with 35 career blasts.

LOOK AT MEE
Grady Mee comes into the weekend leading the MAC with 21 stolen bases, while Tanner Mally is second on the team and tied for fifth in the conference with 15 steals. Mee also leads Western Michigan's offense with a .441 on-base percentage. 

TANNER AT THE TOP
WMU leadoff hitter Tanner Mally comes into the week hitting .344, the 12th-highest mark in the MAC. The sophomore paces the Broncos in several other offensive categories as well, including hits (53), runs scored (35), triples (2) and is tied for the team lead in both doubles (8) and hit by pitches (16).