KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The No. 5 seeded Western Michigan baseball team begins its run at the 2026 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening against No. 4 seed Northern Illinois. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: No. 5 Western Michigan (26-23, 20-13 MAC) vs. No. 4 NIU (31-17, 21-12)

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 20 – 6 pm

Site: ForeFront Field (Avon, Ohio)

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: SIDEARM

FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUBaseball

LEADING OFF

• Western Michigan opens up MAC Tournament play on Wednesday against No. 4 seed Northern Illinois
• The winner will face either No. 1 seed Miami or No. 2 seed Kent State in the winner's bracket on Thursday
• The loser will play in an elimination game against the loser of the 3/6 game on Thursday morning at 10 am
• The Broncos come into Wednesday with a 58-45-1 advantage in the all-time series against Northern Illinois
• Wednesday marks the first time WMU and NIU have ever met in the MAC Tournament
• The Broncos swept the Huskies in Kalamazoo last weekend to wrap up the regular season
• Western Michigan capped the sweep with a walk-off single by Drew Howard on Saturday
• Howard went 8-for-16 in the series and drove in a team-high six
• Ricky Kidd fired 6.0 scoreless innings to earn his team-leading seventh win on Friday
• Kidd's performance earned him MAC Pitcher of the Week
• The righty was 7-0 in MAC play, tying for the league lead in wins and ranked second in ERA (2.96)
• Tanner Mally enters the tournament atop NCAA DI in batting average (.448) and second in OBP (.559)
• The junior has been leading the nation in batting average since March 8
• Western Michigan leads the MAC and ranks 25th in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage

TOURNAMENT TIME
Western Michigan enters the 2026 MAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed and begins its tournament run on Wednesday night as it faces No. 4 seed NIU. The Broncos went 20-13 in league play, earning their most conference wins since going 23-17 in 2021. 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
After missing out on a tiebreaker in 2025, the Broncos are back in the MAC Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2024 with a dominant three-day run which saw WMU go 3-0 while outscoring its opponents 29-3. Western Michigan is 17-31 all-time in the MAC Tournament, with tournament championships in 2016 and 2024. Both tournament titles in program history have come under head coach Billy Gernon, who surpassed 500 wins as a collegiate head coach earlier this season. Gernon owns a 13-13 record in the MAC Tournament, and has beaten a higher seed 11 times at the helm of the Brown and Gold. 

SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan comes into Wednesday night's matchup against NIU with a 58-45-1 record in the all-time series. The Broncos swept the Huskies this past weekend to win the series for the third consecutive year. Wednesday's contest marks the first ever meeting between WMU and Northern Illinois in MAC Tournament play. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos wrapped up the 2026 regular season by sweeping a three-game set from NIU at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field. Western Michigan used a three-run eighth to rally and win the opener, got 6.0 shutout frames from Ricky Kidd to take game two and then Drew Howard hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday to complete the series sweep. 

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ricky Kidd wrapped up a dominant MAC season with 6.0 scoreless innings on Friday against Northern Illinois. The righty yielded just two hits and struck out a career-high six on the way to his eighth win of the season and MAC Pitcher of the Week honors. Kidd went 7-0 in his 11 conference starts, with WMU winning each of his last six outings. In league play, he tied for the MAC lead in wins (7), was second in ERA (2.96) and third in innings pitched (67.0).

ALL-AMERICAN LEADOFF MAN
Leadoff hitter Tanner Mally enters the tournament atop NCAA Division I in batting average (.448), and second nationally in on-base percentage (.559). He has been leading the nation in batting average since March 8. The junior is tied for the conference lead in total hits (82), which has him four away from tying the single-season, program record. He also ranks inside the league's top-10 in numerous other offensive categories, including hit by pitches (22, 4th), OPS (1.084, 7th), runs scored (56, 10) and stolen bases (19, 10th). Last month, Mally was named a Midseason All-American by both D1Baseball (Second Team) and Perfect Game (Third Team). He was also recently selected to the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Midseason Watch List and as a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Behind Mally, Drew Howard has given WMU a potent one-two punch at the top of its order. He is coming off of an 8-for-16 weekend against NIU, which saw him have multiple hits in all three contests and drive in a team-high six runs. Howard celebrated his Senior Day with three hits, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to complete the series sweep. 

MASHING MALONEY
Michael Maloney comes into the tournament having reached base in 36 straight games and with a .357 batting average, the ninth-best mark in the league. The shortstop's 54 RBIs lead the Broncos and are tied for seventh-most in the conference. 

REALLY THIEL-ING IT
Avery Thielman was one of the top hitters in the league in MAC play, hitting .373 (8th in the MAC) and also ranking in the top-10 in slugging (.636, 6th), RBIs (36, T-6), doubles (11, T-7) and OPS (1.064, 9th).

DIGGING IN DEFENSIVELY
WMU's defense continues to rank among the nation's best, coming into the tournament leading the MAC and ranked 25th nationally with a .979 fielding percentage. In conference play, the Broncos owned a league-best .982 fielding percentage while playing more than half of their games on natural surfaces. 

BUNTING BRONCOS 
The Broncos are atop the league with 39 sacrifice bunts, which ranks 22nd in the nation. Nolan Zajac is tied for second in the MAC and 11th nationally with 11, while Mason Pilarski is fourth in the league with eight.