MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The Western Michigan baseball team scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie it up, but Central Michigan hit a walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 9-8 victory on Friday afternoon.
FINAL SCORE: Central Michigan 9, Western Michigan 8
LOCATION: Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium (Mount Pleasant, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (28-21, 18-11 MAC) | Central Michigan (17-37, 8-21)
W: Jack Bach (1-0) | L: Turner Doran (2-3)
Western Michigan trailed 8-3 heading into the ninth inning. The Broncos loaded the bases with one out for CJ Richmond, who doubled in a pair and brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Josh Swinehart. Swinehart then notched an RBI single to close the gap to two. After a Greg Budig ground ball brought Richmond around, Michael Maloney delivered a two-out, base hit to even the score at 8-8.
Cade Sullivan scored for the second time in the contest and 62nd time this season during the ninth-inning rally, tying him with Bob Reimink’s 1989 campaign for the single-season school record.
The Broncos retired the first two hitters in the ninth inning, but CMU’s Jacob Donahue lined a home run down the left field line to give the hosts the walk-off victory.
Dylan Nevar got the Broncos going in the first inning, blasting his team-leading 14th home run. The homer brought Nevar’s career RBI total to 150, making him the fifth WMU player to reach that mark and tying him with Kris Gundrum (1996-99) for fourth all-time.
Central Michigan answered with one of its own in the bottom of the first to even it up at 1-1.
The long ball put Western Michigan back in front in the third. It was Richmond who did the damage this time, as the junior blasted a two-run shot to put the Brown and Gold back in front. Richmond tied his career high with four RBIs in the contest to bring his season total to 58, which is tied for the fifth-most in a single-season in program history.
CMU responded again in the home half, as it pushed across six to grab a 7-3 advantage.
The hosts tacked on another in the fifth to make it a five-run margin.
Western Michigan had its opportunities to cut into the CMU advantage prior to the ninth, but left multiple runners on base in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Broncos and Chippewas conclude the regular season with a series rubber match on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 pm.