KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team steps outside of conference play on Tuesday to take on Notre Dame. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (10-11) at Notre Dame (14-6)

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 24 – 4:30 pm

Site: Frank Eck Stadium (South Bend, Ind.)

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan steps outside of conference play on Tuesday to take on Notre Dame
• Notre Dame holds a 65-60-1 advantage in the all-time series
• The Broncos won last year's meeting, 5-4, in South Bend
• The Fighting Irish are WMU's third Power Conference and second ACC opponent of the season
• The Broncos took one out of three from Pitt during Opening Weekend and have also faced Michigan
• WMU owns the 65th-most difficult, non-conference strength of schedule in NCAA DI thus far this season
• Among MAC schools, only Bowling Green (25th) has had a harder non-conference slate than the Broncos
• Western Michigan is 8-5 in true road games so far in 2026
• The Broncos dropped two out of three over the weekend against Ball State
• Saturday and Sunday were WMU's first home contests of the 2026 season
• WMU starting pitching allowed just four runs in 18.0 innings for the series (2.00 ERA) 
• Tanner Mally went 6-for-7 (.857) in the series against the Cardinals and reached base at an .889 clip
• The junior enters the week still atop NCAA DI in batting average (.573) and on-base percentage (.667)
• He has also been the nation's toughest hitter to strike out, fanning just once in 75 at-bats

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After playing its first 19 games away from home, Western Michigan finally got to open up its home slate last weekend against Ball State. The Broncos are right back on the road again on Tuesday to face Notre Dame. WMU heads into Tuesday's contest 8-5 in true road games this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Notre Dame holds a 65-60-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. The Broncos and Fighting Irish are meeting for the fourth consecutive year, with WMU having picked up a 5-4 win last year in South Bend for its second win in the series over the last few seasons. 

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan took one out of three over the weekend against Ball State. The Broncos opened the series with a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Friday, with the game moved to Grand Valley State's campus due to field conditions. The series then shifted to Kalamazoo for the remainder of the weekend, with BSU picking up a pair of come-from-behind victories, 8-6 and 7-5, to take the series.

NATIONAL LEADER
Leadoff hitter Tanner Mally continued his scorching hot start to the season in the Ball State series, going 6-for-7 (.857) and reaching base in 8-of-9 plate appearances (.889). Coming into the week, the junior remains on top of NCAA Division I in both batting average (.573) and on-base percentage (.667). He has been the toughest player in the country to strike out, having fanned just once in 75 at-bats. Mally has been a magnet for the ball so far this season, getting hit by a pitch 14 times, which ranks inside the national top-10. The center fielder also paces the conference in runs scored (29) and hits (43), and leads the Broncos in doubles (5) and steals (10).

STARTERS SHINE
Western Michigan's starting pitching shined over the weekend against Ball State, combining to yield just four runs over the course of 18.0 innings (2.00 ERA). Zach Vriesenga got the Brown and Gold started, limiting BSU to one run in his career-high tying 6.0 innings to pick up his first victory of the campaign. On Saturday, Sam Carlisle yielded one run on three hits over 5.0 innings and tied his career high with seven strikeouts, and exited in line for the win. In Sunday's rubber match, Ricky Kidd tied his career high with 7.0 innings on the mound, surrendering two runs on five hits while piling up a career-high five strikeouts. The graduate student was also in line to grab the victory for the Broncos when he left the ballgame. Going into the week, Western Michigan is fourth in the league in team ERA (6.49) and second in conference play at 4.59.

A GROUP EFFORT
The WMU offense has been one of the top units in the conference as well, boasting the third-best team batting average in the MAC at .288, which is inside the top-100 in the nation. The Broncos have turned things up a notch in conference play, hitting .313, the second-highest in the league, with a robust .415 on-base percentage. Leading the charge in league games for the Brown and Gold is Tanner Mally, who owns a .677 batting average and .750 on-base percentage against MAC foes.

MASHING MALONEY
Michael Maloney continues to thrive in the middle of the Western Michigan lineup. The graduate student paces the Broncos in home runs (5) and RBIs (27), with his 27 RBIs ranked fourth in the conference. Earlier this month, he was one of 100 shortstops named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list, which is presented by the College Baseball Foundation to the nation's top shortstop. 

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Western Michigan's defense has been the best in the league so far this season, leading the MAC and ranking 34th in NCAA Division I with a .980 fielding percentage. The Broncos have been particularly adept at turning double plays, having turned 19 double plays, which is tied for the most in the conference and also ranks inside of the nation's top-60. The Brown and Gold have turned the defense up a couple of notches in league play, owning a .982 fielding percentage through their first three MAC series. 

BUNTING BRONCOS 
The Broncos have been effective at playing small ball so far in 2026, having laid down a league-high 16 sacrifice bunts. The 16 sacrifices rank WMU 25th in the nation. Western Michigan has two of the MAC's top bunters, with Drew Howard ranking third in the conference with five sacrifices and Nolan Zajac right behind him with four.