KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Dylan Nevar delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning on Wednesday to lift Western Michigan to a 6-5 victory over Michigan State and extend its winning streak to a season-high six in a row. The victory over the Spartans was the fourth over a Power Conference opponent this season for the Broncos.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 6, Michigan State 5 (F/12)
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field
RECORDS: Western Michigan (18-27) | Michigan State (25-22)
W: Matt Maloney (1-0) |
L: Gavin Moczydlowsky (0-1)
Western Michigan trailed 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but loaded the bases with one out for
Avery Thielman, who drew a walk to pick up an RBI.
Cooper Hums followed with a fielder's choice, which brought
Michael Maloney in to tie the score and send the game into extra frames.
Turner Doran tossed scoreless 10th and 11th frames for WMU and the scored remained even at 4-4 until the top of the 12th, when Michigan State took advantage of an error to tally an unearned run and move back in front, 5-4.
In the home half, the Broncos drew three consecutive one-out walks to load the bases for
Tanner Mally, who beat out an infield single to plate the tying run. One out later, Nevar smoked a 1-0 pitch into right center to bring
Grady Mee around and deliver WMU its first walk-off win of the season.
Matt Maloney earned the win in relief for Western Michigan, his first for the Brown and Gold.
The early portion of the contest was dominated by pitching.
Zach Vriesenga got the start for the Broncos and held Michigan State to one unearned run on three hits over a career-high 6.0 innings of work.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Mee was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a bloop single down the right field line by
Michael Maloney. Nevar followed with an RBI double to make it 2-0.
Michigan State notched another unearned tally in the sixth, then took a 4-2 lead on a three-run homer in the seventh.
Trevor Raade shined out of the WMU bullpen, coming on after the home run in the seventh and retiring the next three Spartans to get out of the inning without further damage. The true freshman pitched clean eighth and ninth innings as well, giving him a career-high 3.0 scoreless innings and setting the stage for the Brown and Gold's ninth-inning rally.
Western Michigan hits the road for the final time in conference play this weekend as it heads to Kent State for a three-game series. The Broncos and Golden Flashes are set to open their series on Friday evening at 6 pm.
