KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan travels to Muncie, Ind., for this weekend's three-game series against West Division rival Ball State. With just three MAC series left (nine games), Western Michigan is working to remain in contention for a bid in the upcoming conference tournament.

SERIES INFORMATION
Western Michigan Broncos (17-24, 7-10 MAC)
at Ball State Cardinals (11-29, 6-12 MAC)

May 4-6 • 3 p.m./1 p.m./1 p.m.
Muncie, Ind. • Ball Field

Predicted Starters (WMU vs. BSU)
LHP Casey Webber (2-4, 4.06 ERA) vs. RHP T.J. Weir (2-7, 5.61 ERA)
LHP Steve Laudicina (4-4, 3.99 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Marangon (1-5, 4.15 ERA)
RHP Will Nimke (2-3, 3.95 ERA) vs. RHP Jacob Brewer (0-4, 6.05 ERA)

WHAT'S AT STAKE
With just nine games (three MAC weekends) remaining, a number of squads are fighting to become one of eight teams to advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament, May 23-26 at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio ... teams will be seeded 1 though 8 based on conference winning percentage (MAC play only), regardless of division.

IF THE TOURNAMENT STARTED TODAY
If the tournament started today, WMU would be fourth in the West, but would secure the No. 7 seed with a .411 MAC winning percentage ... Ball State is currently last in the West, and would be ranked No. 11 in the conference, but is still in heavy contention for a tournament bid with a 6-12 MAC record.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan got off to its best start in conference play since 2005, going 5-0 with sweeps over Bowling Green and Buffalo (two games), but has won just two of its last 12 MAC games since ... WMU is batting .280 as a team (.300 MAC) and has a .485 staff ERA (.447 MAC) ... each of the last two conference wins for the Broncos have been on Saturday ... the Broncos are looking to snap a five-game losing streak and are 5-13 on the road ... WMU is 10-5 when leading after the fifth and 13-2 when leading after the seventh.

BALL STATE OVERVIEW
Six of Ball State's overall 11 wins have been during league play ... the Cardinals have been outscored by 48 runs in the first 18 MAC games (60 to 108) ... BSU is 6-7 at home ... the Cardinals are batting .237 on the season (.225 MAC), both of which are conference lows ... the team has a 5.92 ERA (4.78 MAC) ... Ball State dropped all three at Toledo last weekend and went 2-1 against Eastern Michigan the weekend before.

BRONCOS SWEEP IN 2011
Western Michigan swept Ball State in week seven last year, taking all three games in Muncie by scores of 18-6, 2-0 and 5-4 (12-innings) ... it was the Broncos' first sweep over the Cardinals on the road since 1989.

WEBBER LOOKS TO MOVE INTO TOP FIVE
Western Michigan senior LHP and Friday starter Casey Webber is currently sixth all-time in program history with 196 career strikeouts, and needs just two more to pass Ethan Hollingsworth (197 K, 2006-08) into the top five ... Webber and Hollingsworth both wear No. 24 ... Webber also sits sixth all-time with 243.0 innings pitched, behind Angelo Palazeti (250.1 IP, 1998-2000) ... Webber is the school's all-time leader in career pickoffs with 26.

STARTERS SUMMARY
Friday: Senior LHP Casey Webber has thrown a team-high 62.0 innings and leads the staff with 40 K's ... he struck out a season-high nine batters at Buffalo on April 30 ... Webber's career high for K's is 10 ... he threw a complete game in an 11-4 win over Penn on March 8.

Saturday: Sophomore LHP Steve Laudicina has been the Saturday starter in every series but Toledo, when he threw on Sunday ... he has logged 58.2 IP and 31 K's ... Laudicina fanned a career-high seven batters in 7.0 IP against Bowling Green (3/24).

Sunday: Freshman RHP Will Nimke has started eight games this season, with Sunday MAC starts against Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Kent State ... he threw a complete game, striking out seven in a 5-4 win at Notre Dame on April 11 ... in four conference appearances, spanning 16.0 innings, he has the lowest ERA of the three starters with a 2.81 ERA.

LOOKING AHEAD
Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo to host in-state Big Ten rival Michigan State Tuesday, May 8 at 3 p.m., then travels to Chicago State, May 9 for a 4 p.m. ET contest ... the Broncos then host Northern Illinois in the second-to last MAC weekend, its last at home, May 11-13 ... WMU will celebrate Senior Day Sunday during the NIU series.

MAC PLAYERS/PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
Western Michigan has had three players honored with conference weekly awards ... senior 3B Ryan McMillin was named Player of the Week March 6 ... senior LHP Casey Webber and junior SS Patrick Duncan swept the Pitcher/Player of the Week award March 14.