EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Western Michigan softball team plays its final non-conference opponent of the season on Tuesday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan took two of three games from the Toledo Rockets while celebrating the program's 50th season. The Broncos won the final two games of their series against Toledo to win their fifth Mid-American Conference series of the season. After dropping a close game one 8-7, WMU bounced back to take the second game of Friday's doubleheader 2-0. The Brown and Gold then took the series on Saturday afternoon with an 8-3 victory powered by senior Jordan Smith's two home runs.

Through the series, Smith led Western Michigan's offense with a .600 batting average with six hits, three multi-base hits, 7 RBIs, and a 1.300 slugging percentage. She was closely followed by junior outfielder Emily Lampela, who batted .556 with five hits, two doubles, a home run, three RBIs, and a 1.111 slugging percentage. In the circle, freshman Ava Geyer led all four Bronco pitchers with a 2-0 record in two games started, including a complete game on Friday. Geyer had a team-low 1.27 ERA, allowing only two runs in 11.0 innings pitched while striking out eight batters.

MAC CHAMPIONSHIP WATCH
With only two weeks left in the regular season, teams across the MAC are honing in on their conference records and potential seeding for the MAC Championship in early May. WMU has won five of its seven MAC series to sit in 6th place on Monday afternoon with a conference record of 12-9. Only the top six teams in the conference make the MAC Championship, with the Brown and Gold currently sitting in the final playoff spot.

Western Michigan is a full series ahead of Toledo, who currently sit at seventh in the MAC standings right behind the Broncos. With three games in hand from the team behind them, WMU will try to move up the conference ladder in the final two weeks of play. The Brown and Gold sit just a game and a half back from Central Michigan while being two games back from both Ohio and Miami, the current 5th, 4th, and 3rd place teams. 

KEEP THE HOME RUNS COMING
Western Michigan added four more home runs to its season total over the Rockets this past weekend. Jordan Smith became the Broncos sixth batter to hit two home runs in a game this season to match the program record. Along with Smith, Tristen Head, Emily Lampela, Bella Duncan, Analeez Niles, and Jadeyn Merrill have also hit two homers in a single game. Smith's two home runs on Saturday afternoon was the third time in her career she has hit two home runs in a game, once in Toledo last season and against Murray State on 2/14/25.

WMU is approaching a new program record for most home runs in a season after adding four over the weekend. The current program record is 43 homers in 2018 through 53 games and again in 2025 through 52 games. The Brown and Gold currently sit at 42 home runs on the season through 43 games. Western Michigan has 7 games left in the regular season and are averaging 0.98 home runs a game. The Broncos are set to break the program record before the season is done with at least two long balls over the next two weeks.

HOLDING THEM SCORELESS
WMU earned its sixth shutout victory this season in a 2-0 win over the Rockets on Friday, April 17. The shutout made the Brown and Gold the MAC leaders in shutout wins ahead of Bowling Green with 5 in 41 games played. Western Michigan is ranked 56th in the category nationally as the team averages a shutout every 7.2 games in 43 games this season.

Freshman Ava Geyer was in the circle for the Broncos sixth shutout win over the weekend, making it her fifth of the year. With five shutouts, Geyer leads all pitchers in the MAC by a game as the next closest pitcher is Miami senior Presley Hosick with four. Geyer is also ranked ninth among 115 Division 1 pitchers with at least a shutout victory. 

SERIES HISTORY
WMU heads to Michigan State for the two program's 98th overall meeting going back to 1976. The Spartans currently hold a two game lead in the series at 49-47-1. The teams are an even 18-18 in East Lansing as MSU has not visited Kalamazoo since 2007. But the last game played between the Brown and Gold and Michigan State were at a neutral site in 2025.

Western Michigan and the Spartans played two games against each other at the Candrea Classic hosted by Arizona to open the 2025 season. The Broncos won the opening game of the season 8-0, ending a five game losing streak in the series. WMU got a stellar performance from graduate pitcher Jensen Gremillion who went the full 6.0 innings with just two hits allowed. The Brown and Gold's defense behind her was stellar as well, making 18 putouts without a single error while senior outfielder Riley Dittmar led the offense going 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a 2 RBI single and a sacrifice fly for four RBIs. The Spartans were able to respond in the second game though, beating Western Michigan 9-1. 

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State has had a difficult season, winning only 15 of its 43 games so far this season. MSU has particularly struggled in Big Ten conference play with just two victories against Illinois and Rutgers. The Spartans have dropped their last four games, with their 9-6 win over Rutgers on April 11 being their most recent victory. Michigan State has played five common opponents with the Broncos going into Tuesday. MSU was 1-6 against those teams (Dayton, Toledo, Ohio State, Detroit Mercy, and Oakland) while WMU was 7-1 over the same opponents.

The Spartans are led on offense by freshman outfielder Zoie Bernard. In her first season of collegiate softball, Bernard is averaging .321 at the plate with 45 hits, 12 doubles, five triples, two home runs, and 14 RBIs. Bernard is also quick on the base paths, stealing seven of nine attempts to lead the team. In the circle sophomore Jacey Schuler is Michigan State's workhorse with 79.0 innings pitched for a 5-13 record in 26 appearances and 19 starts with a team-low ERA of 5.23.