YPSILANTI, Mich. – Western Michigan senior first baseman Avery Thielman launched a pair of home runs and notched a career-high five RBIs to lead the Broncos to a 12-3 series-clinching victory at Eastern Michigan on Sunday afternoon.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 12, Eastern Michigan 3
LOCATION: Oestrike Stadium (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (19-16, 14-7 MAC) | Eastern Michigan (11-26, 6-15)
W: Ricky Kidd (5-1) | L: Michael Pfeiffer (1-4)
 
Thielman went 4-for-4 on the day with a pair of home runs and reached in all five plate appearances. The multi-homer game was the first by a Bronco this season as well as the first of the senior's collegiate career and helped him rack up a career-high five RBIs.  
 
The Broncos got going early, plating four in the top of the first. Three of the first four batters produced base hits, with a Mark Mennecke RBI single opening the scoring for WMU. Cooper Hums used his speed to score the second run, dashing home ahead of a tag on a fielder's choice. Thielman then started his big afternoon with a double, which scored a pair of runs when EMU made an error on the play to make it 4-0.
 
Western Michigan tacked on in the third, with Thielman launching a two-run shot and Josh Polubinski making it back-to-back home runs with a solo blast, extending the margin to 7-0.
 
Eastern Michigan picked up its first run of the contest in the fourth.  
 
Thielman led off the sixth with his second home run of the day to restore the seven-run cushion, 8-1.
 
The Eagles pushed across a pair in the home half to close the gap to 8-3.  
 
WMU came right back in the next half inning with two of its own, as Nolan Zajac legged out an infield single with two outs to bring in a pair.
 
With two outs in the eighth, Thielman capped his day with an RBI single. A double by Polubinski then scored Michael Maloney for the fourth time in the game, extending the advantage to 12-3.
 
Ricky Kidd turned in another solid outing on the mound for the Brown and Gold, allowing three runs over his 6.0 innings of work to pick up his team-leading fifth win of the season.
 
The combination of Evan Shapiro and Matt Hoover followed Kidd and kept Eastern Michigan off of the scoreboard over the final three innings to seal the victory for WMU.­
 
The Broncos wrap up their road swing on Tuesday with a trip to Valparaiso. First pitch is scheduled for 4 pm on ESPN+.