KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team continues its six-game homestand at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field this weekend with a three-game set against Miami.

SERIES INFO: Western Michigan (21-18, 15-9 MAC) vs Miami (30-14, 17-7)
Game One: Friday, May 1 | 3:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Game Two: Saturday, May 2 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Game Three: Sunday, May 3 | 1:05 pm | TICKETS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan continues its six-game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against Miami
• WMU enters the weekend tied for fourth in the standings, two games back of Miami and Kent State in first
• The Broncos come into the weekend with a 105-79 advantage in the all-time series with the RedHawks
• The home team has swept the season series each of the last two seasons
• WMU has not lost a home series to Miami since 2018
• The Broncos are 7-5 at home this year and have won 13 of their last 18 home conference series
• Last weekend, Western Michigan dropped two out of three at home to Kent State
• Two of the three games were decided by one run, with Friday's contest going a season-long 13 innings
• Ricky Kidd tied his career high with 8.0 innings of work to pick up his team-high sixth win in the finale
• Kidd's six wins and 64.1 innings pitched lead the Broncos and are tied for third in the conference
• Turner Doran closed out the victory for his MAC-leading ninth save of the season
• Doran's nine saves are tied for third-most in a season, while his 13 career are fourth-most in WMU history
• Tanner Mally enters the weekend still atop NCAA DI in batting average (.483) and OBP (.596)
• WMU's 4.35 team ERA is the best in the conference in league play

HOME SWEET HOME
Western Michigan continues its six-game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against Miami. The Broncos are 7-5 at home this season and own conference series victories over UMass (sweep) and Toledo. Since the start of the 2023 season, WMU is 42-21 at home and has won 13 of its last 18 home conference series. 

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME
With just three weekends remaining in the regular season, the races for the MAC regular season title and MAC Tournament berths are starting to take shape. The RedHawks come into the weekend tied for first with Kent State, while the Broncos sit two games back in a tie for fourth place with Toledo. The top-six teams will make next month's MAC Tournament in Avon, Ohio.

SERIES HISTORY
The Broncos enter the weekend with a 105-79 advantage in the all-time series against Miami. The home team has swept the series each of the last two seasons, with the Brown and Gold brooming the RedHawks in their last trip to Kalamazoo in 2024 and Miami returning the favor last season in Oxford. Western Michigan hasn't lost a home series to the RedHawks since 2018. 

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan dropped two out of three last weekend at home against Kent State, with two of the three games decided by just one run. The Broncos rallied with three in the ninth to send game one into extra innings, but the visitors eventually prevailed in 13 innings, marking the longest WMU game of the season. After KSU claimed the series with a win on Saturday, the Brown and Gold took the finale behind 8.0 strong innings from Ricky Kidd, who collected his team-high sixth victory of the year. Turner Doran closed out the win for Western Michigan to notch his conference-leading ninth save of the season. 

ALL-AMERICAN LEADOFF MAN
Leadoff hitter Tanner Mally comes into the weekend still atop NCAA Division I in both batting average (.483) and on-base percentage (.596). The junior also leads the Mid-American Conference in total hits (69) and ranks inside the league's top-10 in numerous other offensive categories as well, including hit by pitches (20, T-2), OPS (1.169, 4th), runs scored (49, 5th) and stolen bases (19, 8th). Earlier this month, Mally was named a Midseason All-American by both D1Baseball (Second Team) and Perfect Game (Third Team). He was also recently named to the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Midseason Watch List.

NEW KIDD IN TOWN
Michigan transfer Ricky Kidd continues to be the Sunday workhorse for the Broncos. Last weekend against Kent State, the right-hander tied his career high with 8.0 innings pitched, yielding two runs to pick up his team-leading sixth win. Kidd has gone at least 5.0 innings in all eight of his MAC starts, winning five of them with three no-decisions. He comes into the weekend tied for third in the league in both wins (6) and innings pitched (64.1). Anchored by the weekend trio of Kidd, Sam Carlisle and Zach Vriesenga, WMU ranks third in the MAC with a 5.71 ERA and owns a league-best 4.35 ERA in conference play.

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Along with Mally, second baseman Drew Howard has given the Broncos a great one-two punch at the top of their order. The senior checks in with a .358 batting average, the 10th-best mark in the conference, and paces Western Michigan in walks with 23, as well as triples, with three. He is also second on the Broncos in hits (54), doubles (8), on-base percentage (.462) and RBIs (31), while ranking third in runs scored (36).

SATURDAYS ARE FOR SAM
Sam Carlisle has been very consistent as WMU's Saturday starter, logging 5.0 innings or more and collecting at least four strikeouts in all eight MAC starts. The righty has piled up seven or more punchouts in five of those outings, which has him ranked fifth in the league in overall strikeouts (60) and second in strikeouts in conference play (54). 

DIGGING IN DEFENSIVELY
Western Michigan's defense continues to rank among the nation's best, coming into the weekend atop the MAC and ranked 16th nationally with a .980 fielding percentage. 

BUNTING BRONCOS 
The Broncos lead the league with 30 sacrifice bunts, which ranks WMU 28th in the nation. Nolan Zajac leads the Broncos with seven sac bunts, third-most in the conference, while Drew Howard and Mason Pilarski are tied for fifth in the league with five sacrifices apiece.