KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team travels across the state on Tuesday to take on Michigan.
GAME INFO
Matchup: Western Michigan (6-8) at Michigan (8-6)
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 10 – 4 pm
Site: Ray Fisher Stadium (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Video: B1G+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball
LEADING OFF
- Western Michigan steps outside of conference play on Tuesday to take on Michigan
- The Broncos are in the midst of a stretch of 18 in a row away from home to start the 2026 season
- Michigan holds an 83-78-2 edge in the all-time series between the two in-state foes
- WMU has won four of the six meetings over the last two years, including a pair of victories in Ann Arbor
- Western Michigan won four games against Power Conference competition last season, including three against the Big Ten (Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern)
- WMU has already beaten one Power Conference team in 2026, taking down Pitt during Opening Weekend
- The Broncos opened MAC play by taking two out of three at Akron over the weekend
- Tanner Mally was an on-base machine, going 7-for-9 (.778) and reaching base at an .846 clip
- The junior enters the week as the national leader in batting average (.551) and on-base percentage (.672)
- The Western Michigan pitching staff shined against the Zips, allowing just seven runs in the three games
- All three starters gave up one run and four or fewer hits, with each working at least into the fifth inning
- Turner Doran pitched a pair of scoreless ninth innings to earn a pair of saves
- The WMU defense has turned 14 double plays, second-most in the league and 30th nationally
ROAD WARRIORS
Western Michigan is in the midst of a stretch of 18 games in a row outside of Kalamazoo to start the 2026 season. The Broncos are 5-4 so far in true road games and have won both of their three-game road series, including taking two out of three at Akron to begin MAC play over the weekend.
SERIES HISTORY
Michigan holds an 83-78-2 advantage in the all-time series between these two in-state foes. The Broncos have had the upperhand lately, winning four of the six meetings over the last two seasons, including picking up victories in Ann Arbor each of the last two years. Last year, Western Michigan had the trio of
Reese Gaber (6.0 IP),
Adam Lehmann (1.0) and
DJ Thompson (2.0) shut out the Wolverines on two hits in a 6-0 victory.
POWER SCHEDULING
Western Michigan has made it a habit to schedule numerous Power Conference opponents in recent years, and this year opened up against a Power Conference opponent for the fourth consecutive season with a three-game series against Pittsburgh in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Broncos won four games against Power Conference foes in 2025, taking down Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Notre Dame, and started off 2026 by picking up a win over Pitt. The Brown and Gold also earned a victory during the second weekend of the season over UC San Diego, which upset #1 UCLA during Opening Weekend in Los Angeles. In addition to Michigan on Tuesday, WMU is set to face Michigan State and Notre Dame later on in the year from the Power Conference ranks. The Brown and Gold's non-conference schedule currently ranks as the 54th-most difficult in NCAA Division I so far in 2026.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos opened up conference play by taking two out of three at Akron over the weekend. The Western Michigan pitching staff was dominant, limiting the Zips to seven runs and a team batting average of .163 for the series. The starting trio of
Zach Vriesenga,
Sam Carlisle and
Ricky Kidd all yielded just one run, surrendered four or fewer hits and worked at least into the fifth inning.
NATIONAL LEADER
Leadoff hitter
Tanner Mally continued his scorching hot start to the season over the weekend, going 7-for-9 (.778) and reaching base in 11 of his 13 plates appearance (.846 OBP) against Akron. The junior scored five times in the series, including the game-winning tally on Friday and stealing home in the first inning to give WMU an early edge on Sunday. Through the first four weeks of the season, Mally is atop all of NCAA Division I in both batting average (.551) and on-base percentage (.672), and is one behind the national leader with 13 hit by pitches. He also leads the MAC in hits (27) and ranks fourth in the conference in runs scored (18) and sixth in stolen bases (7).
PITCHING DOMINANCE
The Western Michigan pitching staff turned in a strong start to conference play over the weekend, limiting Akron to seven total runs and a .163 batting average for the series.
Zach Vriesenga got the Broncos started with 4.2 innings of one run ball and a career-high six strikeouts in Friday's series-opening victory. Sam Carisle followed with his best outing to date for the Brown and Gold, yielding one run on four hits over a career-high 6.0 innings.
Ricky Kidd capped it off on Sunday with a career day of his own, working a career-high 7.0 frames while limiting the Zips to one run on three hits.
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT
Drew Howard has been a welcome addition as the two-hole hitter in the Western Michigan lineup. The Evansville transfer owns the second-best batting average (.396) and on-base percentage (.484) on the Broncos, and has also been adept at moving runners over, ranking second in the league with three sacrifice bunts. Howard's bunting prowess has helped the Brown and Gold rank second in the MAC and inside the top-50 in DI with nine sacrifice bunts.
MASHING MALONEY
Michael Maloney has settled into his role in the three-spot for the Broncos and knocked in a team-leading 18 runs, the third-most in the conference. The graduate student is also WMU's leader in homers with four, and is second on the club with 14 runs scored. Last week, Maloney was one of 100 shortstops from around the country to earn a spot on the Brooks Wallace Award watch list, which will be handed out later this spring by the College Baseball Foundation to the nation's top shortstop.
