AKRON, Ohio – The Western Michigan baseball team dropped a 3-2 contest at Akron on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the two teams' three-game weekend series.
 
FINAL SCORE: Akron 3, Western Michigan 2
LOCATION: Skeeles Field (Akron, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (6-8, 2-1 MAC) | Akron (7-9, 1-2)
W: Josiah Ross (1-2) | L: Joey Wizceb (0-3) 
 
Tanner Mally worked a walk to start the afternoon, advanced to second on a free pass to Drew Howard and then reached third on a ground ball. With two outs, Mally saw an opportunity to steal home and took it, sliding in just ahead of the tag to give Western Michigan the early edge.
 
The Zips answered in the second with a solo home run, which evened the contest at 1-1.
 
Pitching settled in on both sides after the first couple of innings. For the Broncos, Ricky Kidd retired nine in a row at one point and 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. The righty limited Akron to one run on three hits over a career-high 7.0 innings.
 
The game remained tied at 1-1 until the eighth. Mally led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a bunt single by Howard. Michael Maloney then laid down a bunt of his own, which brought Mally home to put Western Michigan back in front, 2-1.
 
Akron responded in the home half with a run to even it back up at 2-2. The Zips then had the bases loaded with one out, but Joey Wizceb came on and got a double play to get out of the jam with the game still tied.
 
After Western Michigan was turned away in the top of the ninth, the Zips hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning to claim the victory.
 
Next up for Western Michigan is a trip to Ann Arbor on Tuesday to face Michigan. First pitch is scheduled for 4 pm on B1G+.