NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Western Michigan baseball team plated three runs in each of the first two innings and got a strong start from senior Ty McKinstry in an 11-1 series-opening victory at CSUN on Friday night.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 11, CSUN 1
LOCATION: Robert J. Hiegert Field (Northridge, Calif.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (3-6) | CSUN (5-4)
W: Ty McKinstry (1-0) | L: Adam Christopher (0-2)
 
The Broncos wasted little time in opening the scoring, with Michael Maloney driving in the first of his three runs just three batters into the night with a single. A Connor Ostrander squeeze bunt brought Drew Howard around, and Mason Pilarski capped the three-run first with an RBI double.
 
In the second, Maloney collected his second run-scoring knock and Lucas Rick followed with a two-run double to make it 6-0.
 
The six early runs were more than enough for McKinstry, who turned in his best start of the young campaign. After the first two Matadors reached to begin the second, the right-hander retired the next six batters he faced. McKinstry scattered six hits over his 5.0 innings of work, yielded one run, and struck out five without issuing a walk to pick up his first win of the season.
 
Behind McKinstry, WMU turned to DJ Thompson and Matt Hoover, who each tossed a pair of scoreless frames. The duo combined to fan six, with Hoover's four strikeouts tying a career high. In all, Western Michigan pitching struck out a season high 11, while walking just two.
 
CSUN tallied its lone run of the night in the fourth, but the Broncos came right back with one of their own in the next half inning to restore the six-run cushion.
 
Western Michigan continued to add on in the late innings. In the seventh, Cooper Hums walked, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and then scored on an error. Maloney knocked in his third run of the night with an RBI single in the eighth. The final two tallies came in the ninth, with Tanner Mally collecting a run-scoring base hit and Jacob Rowold scoring on an error.
 
The Broncos take aim at a weekend series victory over the Matadors on Saturday at 7 pm.