The Western Michigan baseball team completed their dominant 2024 Mid-American Conference (MAC) performance by defeating Ball State 10-3 at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio, on Saturday night, capturing their second MAC Tournament Championship and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Across their three games in the tournament, the Broncos outscored their opponents 29-3.
Ball State, attempting to repeat as conference tournament champions, threatened in the top of the first inning.
Although the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs, the Broncos worked out of the jam.
They carried the momentum to the batter’s box, jumping out to a 3-0 lead through the first frame.
BSU got on the board in the third inning, cutting WMU’s advantage to 3-1. The run was the Broncos’ first allowed in the tournament, ending a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Brown and Gold’s bats stayed red hot as they tacked on seven more runs on Ball State’s depleted pitching staff.
The Cardinals attempted to rally in the top of the ninth; however, they were only able to score two runs as Western Michigan clinched the championship.
The entire WMU lineup was firing on cylinders under the brightest lights the MAC has to offer.
Senior infielder Josh Swinhart, junior infielder Michael Maloney and senior catcher Greg Budig all notched three-hit performances, while Swinhart and sophomore infielder Grady Mee drove in two runs apiece.
Meanwhile, Maloney, Budig, senior infielder Cade Sullivan, junior designated hitter CJ Richmond and redshirt junior infielder Brendan Harrity all drove in a run.
Sullivan recorded a single in the eighth inning, his 85th of the season, a new Western Michigan program record.
Sullivan, Swinehart, redshirt junior outfielder Dylan Nevar, redshirt senior pitcher Brady Miller and senior pitcher Nolan Vlcek were all named to the MAC All-Tournament Team, with Nevar being named Tournament MVP.
Western Michigan relief pitcher Joe Shapiro earned his fifth win of the season.
The left-hander tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out four Cardinals.
Next, Western Michigan will await their seeding and opponent for the NCAA Tournament, which will be revealed on ESPN2 at noon on Monday.
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