Baseball Begins MAC Tournament Run on Thursday Against Ball State - Western Michigan University Athletics (2024)

AVON, Ohio –The No. 2 seed Western Michigan baseball team begins its run in the 2024 MAC Tournament on Thursday night as it takes on No. 3 seed Ball State.

GAME INFO

Matchup:No. 2 Western Michigan (29-21, 19-11 MAC) vs. No. 3 Ball State(33-21-1, 18-12)

Date/Time:Thursday, May 23– 6pm

Site:Crushers Stadium(Avon, Ohio)

Video:ESPN+

Live Stats:SIDEARM

@WMUBaseball

• No. 2 seed Western Michigan begins play at the 2024 MAC Tournament on Thursday against No. 3 Ball State
• The second-place finish is the highest for the Broncos since 1990
• The No. 2 seed is the highest seed for WMU since 1983, when it was the #1 in the West Division (#2 overall)
• The Broncos are 103-90 all-time against Ball State, but only 3-4 in tournament play
• Ball State is the only team in the field to have won the regular season series from WMU
• Western Michigan ended the regular season taking two out of three at Central Michigan
• The Broncos closed out the series with their fifth shutout, the most in the conference
• All five of WMU's shutouts came in league play, with no other team recording more than one
• Western Michigan tied atop the MAC in overall ERA (5.78) and had a league-best 4.85 mark in league play
• Cade Sullivan and CJ Richmond were named to the All-MAC First Team on Tuesday
• Dylan Nevar and Nolan Vlcek earned Second Team selections
• Sullivan also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team for the second time in his career (2022)
• Richmond enters the tournament leading the MAC in hitting at .398
• Nevar is second in RBIs with 63, which is tied for second-most in a single season in program history

TOURNAMENT TIME
Western Michigan begins its run in the 2024 MAC Tournament on Thursday night as it faces No. 3 seed Ball State. The Broncos finished in second-place in the MAC standings, their highest finish since 1990, to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye. The Brown and Gold are one of three teams to have finished in the top-4 in the MAC in at least three of the last four seasons. The two seed is WMU's highest since 1983, when it was #1 in the West Division and #2 overall.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Broncos are making their eighth appearance in the last 12 MAC Tournaments. Entering Thursday, Western Michigan is 14-31 all-time in the MAC Tournament. The tournament returns to Avon, Ohio, for the first time since 2019 and is the site where the Brown and Gold captured their lone conference tournament title in 2016.

SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan enters Thursday's matchup with a 103-90 advantage in the all-time series against Ball State. The Cardinals took two out of three in Kalamazoo back in April, WMU's only MAC home series loss in the last two seasons. BSU is the only team in the field to have won the regular seasons series against WMU. Ball State has won four of the seven matchups in the tournament, but the Broncos have won the last two, including a win in their first game of the 2016 tournament on the way to the title.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos closed out the regular season by taking two out of three at Central Michigan, including shutting out the Chippewas on the final day of the regular season to help clinch the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament. CJ Richmond had a big weekend at the plate, going 6-for-13 (.462) with six RBIs on the way to his second MAC Player of the Week award, the third straight week a Bronco was honored.

ALL-MAC SELECTIONS
On Tuesday, the MAC announced its specialty awards and All-Conference Teams, with four Broncos garnering recognition. Cade Sullivan and CJ Richmond were named to the First Team, Dylan Nevar and Nolan Vlcek earned Second Team selections, and Sullivan was picked for the All-Defensive Team for the second time in his career.

MOWING DOWN THE MAC
The quartet of DJ Thompson (3.0 IP), Joe Shapiro (2.0), Turner Doran (1.0) and Luke Thelen (1.0) led the Broncos to a 10-0 shutout victory to wrap up the regular season against CMU, their fifth shutout of the season. Western Michigan's five shutouts all came in league play, and WMU was the only team in the conference to have more than one shutout in league play in 2024. The Brown and Gold tied for the top spot in overall ERA (5.78) during the regular season and boasted the lowest team ERA in MAC play at 4.85.

RECORD-SETTING STAFF
In the regular season finale against CMU, Western Michigan racked up six strikeouts to bring its season total to an even 400, a new single-season program record. The old record of 395 was held by the 2001 team.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
The WMU offense led the MAC during the regular season with a .314 average which ranked 15th nationally. The Broncos were also atop the league in total hits (545) and second in OBP (.414, 32nd in DI).

RAKING RICHMOND
CJ Richmond enters the tournament atop the MAC and 20th in the nation with a .398 batting average. The junior also paces the league in OPS (1.187), and is among the leaders in OBP (.496, 2nd), slugging (.691, 3rd), hits (76, T-3), RBIs (60, T-5) and doubles (16, T-5).

COUNTING ON CADE
Cade Sullivan comes into the tournament with a .390 average and .484 OBP, both of which are third-highest in the MAC. The senior's 63 runs scored are also third and set a new single-season program record.

WESTERN WORKHORSES
Brady Miller ranks fourth in the MAC in innings pitched (76.1) and Nolan Vclek (75.1) is right behind, tied for fifth. Vlcek is third in strikeouts with 80, while Miller's 67 are 10th. Miller continues to climb in WMU's career ranks as well, ranking second in innings (295.0) and fourth in strikeouts (254).