KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Drew Howard capped his Senior Day with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 7-6 comeback victory for the Western Michigan baseball team over Northern Illinois on Saturday. The win secured a series sweep for the Broncos, their third MAC sweep of the season.
Following the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday evening, the Mid-American Conference released the bracket for next week's MAC Baseball Championship in Avon, Ohio, with Western Michigan earning the No. 5 seed. The Broncos are slated to open tournament play on Wednesday evening at 6 pm against No. 4 seed NIU.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 7, Northern Illinois 6
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (26-23, 20-13 MAC) | NIU (31-17, 21-12)
W: Mason Pilarski (1-0) |
L: John Lyman (0-1)
The Huskies held the advantage early, getting out to a 6-1 lead in the first four-and-a-half innings.
Western Michigan began to chip away in the bottom of the fifth, with
Tanner Mally bringing
Mark Mennecke home with an RBI single.
Matt Maloney marked his Senior Day with a career-high 3.0 scoreless frames, holding NIU off of the scoreboard in the sixth through eighth innings to keep WMU within striking distance.
The Broncos left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh before evening up the contest in the bottom of the eighth. After a single and a walk started the inning, Howard brought Mennecke in with a base hit.
Michael Maloney and
Avery Thielman then followed with back-to-back doubles, with Maloney plating one and Thielman collecting a two-run, two-bagger to tie the score at 6-6.
Mason Pilarski worked his way out of a jam with a scoreless ninth, sending the contest to the bottom half with a strikeout. The freshman's outing earned him his first career victory on the mound.
Pilarski started the rally in the home half by getting hit by a pitch, and then moved into scoring position after a Mennecke sacrifice bunt. With two outs, NIU intentionally walked Mally to get to Howard, who capped his Senior Day with a single the other way to bring Pilarski home and seal the series sweep for the Brown and Gold.
Prior to Saturday's game, Western Michigan celebrated its 14 seniors with an on-field ceremony. Joining Howard were
DJ Thompson,
Matt Hoover,
Connor Ostrander,
Jacob Rowold,
Michael Maloney,
Diego Pena,
Ricky Kidd,
Avery Thielman,
Joey Wizceb,
Turner Doran,
Cooper Middleton,
Matt Maloney and
Lucas Rick.
Next up for Western Michigan is the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championship. The No. 5 seeded Broncos are set to open MAC Tournament play against No. 4 seed Northern Illinois on Wednesday at 6 pm on
ESPN+.
