ATHENS, Ohio – The Western Michigan baseball team tallied a combined 15 runs over the final three innings to turn a five-run deficit into a 20-12 come-from-behind victory in its series opener at Ohio on Friday evening.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 20, Ohio 12
LOCATION: Bob Wren Stadium (Athens, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (7-9, 3-1 MAC) | Ohio (3-16, 1-3)
W: Matt Hoover (1-0) | L: Landon Price (0-1)
 
Trailing 10-5, the Broncos loaded the bases with nobody out to start the seventh. The next four batters who came to the plate all collected an RBI, with Avery Thielman getting it started with a sacrifice fly. Jacob Rowold followed with a run-scoring base hit, Mason Pilarski plated a run with a ground ball and then Nolan Zajac ripped an RBI double. With two outs and the bags full again, Michael Maloney worked a walk to even the contest at 10-10.
 
The home team responded in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of an error to plate a pair of unearned runs and move back in front, 12-10.
 
The Broncos answered by putting up another crooked number in the eighth. The first 10 batters to come to the plate in the frame all reached base, starting with a Josh Polubinski home run, his first for the Brown and Gold. Thielman and Rowold followed with back-to-back doubles to even the contest at 12-12.
 
Following a Pilarski base hit, Zajac and Tanner Mally collected consecutive RBI singles to put Western Michigan in front. A hit batter then loaded the bases for Maloney, who promptly cleared them with his second grand slam of the season. After two more WMU knocks, Thielman notched another sacrifice fly to bring in the ninth run of the frame to make it 19-12. Maloney then capped his career-high, six-RBI day with a run-scoring single in the ninth.
 
The combination of Matt Hoover and DJ Thompson slowed down the Ohio offense over the final three innings, holding the Bobcats without an earned run. Hoover collected the win for WMU, his first of the season.
 
Western Michigan's 20 runs and 22 hits were both season highs and the highest outputs for the Brown and Gold in a few years. It was the first time WMU had scored 20 runs since it pushed across 21 at Alabama A&M on Feb. 23, 2020. It was also the first 20+ hit game for the Broncos since they tallied 22 at Michigan State on April 13, 2022.
 
The Broncos got contributions from up and down the lineup, with nine different players collecting at least one hit and scoring at least once. All 10 Western Michigan batters who came to the plate drove in at least one run. Maloney paced the Brown and Gold with four hits, three runs scored and six RBIs. Connor Ostrander, Polubinski and Zajac all touched home three times as well, while Pilarski, Rowold, Thielman and Zajac also drove in multiple runs.
 
Western Michigan struck first, plating a pair in the top of the first. Drew Howard worked a one-out walk, moved to third on a Maloney base hit and then tallied the game's first run on an Ostrander ground ball. With two outs, Thielman brought Maloney around with an RBI single.
 
The Bobcats pulled one back in the home half to trim the gap to 2-1.
 
The first three Broncos reached to load the bases to begin the third. With one down, Lucas Rick was hit by a pitch to drive in a run, and Pilarski then plated another with a fielder's choice to up the margin to three, 4-1.
 
Ohio answered with four in the home half to grab a 5-4 edge.
 
Zajac got Western Michigan started in the top of the fourth with a leadoff single. After moving into scoring position on a ground ball, Howard brought Zajac around with a base hit, tying the contest at 5-5.
 
The Bobcats regained the lead with three in the bottom of the inning, and then tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth frames to grab a 10-5 advantage.
 
The Broncos and Bobcats continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 pm on ESPN+.