CLEVELAND – The Mid-American Conference has announced the 2026 Baseball Academic All-MAC Team, with Western Michigan leading the league for the third straight year with 15 honorees. This marks the seventh consecutive season the Broncos have placed double-digit student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC Team.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for student-athletes who excel in both athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.
Sam Carlisle • Redshirt Junior • Sport Management • 3.79
Appeared in 15 games and started 14 on the mound for the Broncos. Led Western Michigan in strikeouts with 67 and finished third in the MAC with 10.05 strikeouts per nine innings. Ranked second on the team in wins (4) and third in innings pitched (60.0).
Turner Doran • Senior • Marketing • 3.44
Pitched in 23 games out of the WMU bullpen and posted a 3.06 ERA, with 34 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. Led the MAC in saves with 10, tied for the second-most in a single season in program history, and finished career with 14 saves, the fourth-most in Western Michigan's history.
Matt Hoover • Senior • Sport Management • 3.57
Made 24 appearances, the second-most on the Western Michigan pitching staff. Fanned 31 batters in his 32.1 innings of work. Earned the victory for WMU's series-opening, comeback win at Ohio.
Cooper Hums • Junior • Biomedical Sciences • 3.46
Saw action in 36 games and made 23 starts in the outfield for the Broncos. Launched the first two home runs of his collegiate career in back-to-back games at Eastern Michigan. Scored 23 runs, picked up 10 RBIs and was second on the team with eight stolen bases.
Tanner Mally • Junior • Advertising & Promotion • 3.71
An All-MAC First Team, All-MAC Defensive Team and CSC Academic All-District selection who started all 50 games he played in center field. Has led the nation in batting average since early March, and hit .446 for the year, the highest single-season batting average at Western Michigan since 1965. He also ranks second nationally in on-base percentage (.554), earned Midseason All-American honors and was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.
Matt Maloney • Redshirt Senior • Marketing • 3.77
Pitched in 13 games, including making a pair of starts on the mound for the Broncos. Logged a total of 17.2 innings for Western Michigan and picked up the win in his first start of the season at Valparaiso.
Michael Maloney • Graduate Student • MBA • 3.60
Named MAC co-Defensive Player of the Year, All-MAC First Team, CSC Academic All-District and a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award. Started all 52 games at shortstop for WMU while hitting .354 with a .466 on-base percentage. Tied for the team lead in homers with six and drove in a team-leading 55 runs.
Ty McKinstry • Senior • Exercise Science • 3.84
Earned the Opening Day start on the mound for the Broncos for the second consecutive season. Made a total of three starts, covering 14.0 innings and picking up 13 strikeouts. Struck out five in 5.0 innings of one-run ball to win the series opener at CSUN.
Connor Ostrander • Senior • Supply Chain Management • 3.76
Saw action in 47 games and started 42 for the Brown and Gold, primarily in right field. Hit .231 for the year while tying for third on WMU with four home runs and ranking fourth on the team with 25 RBIs. Also drew 20 walks, scored 20 runs and collected six stolen bases.
Lucas Rick • Redshirt Senior • Supply Chain Management • 3.65
Played in 38 games and started 27 as Western Michigan's designated hitter. Posted a .271 batting average with a .369 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. Tied for third on the team in both doubles (10) and home runs (4), while collecting 24 RBIs.
Avery Thielman • Senior • Supply Chain Management • 3.46
Saw action in 50 games and started 43 at first base for the Brown and Gold. Batted .319 and slugged .500, tying for the team lead in home runs with six and finishing second on WMU with 42 RBIs. In MAC play, ranked in the top-10 in the conference in batting average (.373), slugging percentage (.636), OPS (1.064), hits (44), RBIs (36) and doubles (11).
DJ Thompson • Senior • Sport Management • 3.59
Made a team-high 27 appearances out of the Western Michigan bullpen. Turned in a 3-1 record and posted a 3.69 ERA in 31.2 innings. Started the season with seven consecutive scoreless appearances (9.0 IP) and picked up victories at CSUN and Akron during that stretch.
Zach Vriesenga • Junior • Criminal Justice • 3.32
Pitched in 17 games and started 12 on the mound for the Brown and Gold. Ranked second on the WMU staff in both innings pitched (68.0) and strikeouts (61). Won the series opener for the Broncos against Ball State and UMass.
Joey Wizceb • Senior • Accountancy • 3.27
Made 14 appearances, including four starts, on the mound for Western Michigan. Logged a total of 21.2 innings, including 1.1 scoreless frames to earn a save during Opening Weekend against Pittsburgh. Fanned three in 3.0 innings to pick up a win at home against Valparaiso.
Nolan Zajac • Sophomore • Electrical Engineering • 3.93
Appeared in 49 games and started 47 behind the plate for the Brown and Gold. Led Western Michigan and tied for second in the conference with 11 sacrifice bunts. Tied for ninth in the league with 12 runners caught stealing.
