KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The junior pitching duo of LHP Derek Schneider and RHP Gabe Berman combined for 13 strikeouts helping the Western Michigan baseball team defeat Buffalo, 4-2 in the opening game of their three game series on Friday.
Schneider earned his third victory of the season going 5.1 innings allowing one earned run on five hits and striking out six. Berman shut the Bulls down in relief going 3.2 innings giving up no runs on just one hit while striking out seven en route to his sixth save of the season.
Buffalo (11-23, 5-11 MAC) jumped on the board first in the top of the third after junior Nick Sinay crushed a solo home run over the left field wall to give the Bulls their first run and hit of the ballgame. After back to back hits had runners on the corners with no outs, freshman Ben Vey singled through the left side of the infield scoring the run from third and giving Buffalo the quick 2-0 advantage. It seemed as if Buffalo was poised for more runs in the third as the bases were loaded with no outs, but back to back strikeouts and a groundout by Schneider ended the threat.
The Broncos (15-22, 7-9 MAC) went the next two innings without registering a hit before sophomore Nick Vogelmeier registered a single on a perfectly executed bunt in the bottom of the fifth. Vogelmeier proceeded to steal second base to give WMU a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Freshman Tanner Allison earned his 11th RBI of the season, smashing a ball back up the middle scoring Vogelmeier from second.
Still in the bottom of the fifth and a runner on second, Buffalo starting pitcher Brent Cleland went on to throw eight straight balls to load the bases with no outs for senior Drew Farmer. Farmer delivered for the Broncos with a two RBI double down the right field line scoring the runners from second and third. An errant throw by the Buffalo right fielder brought around junior Hunter Prince from first and gave WMU the 4-2 lead.
The best comeback chance for the Bulls came after Berman gave up a lead-off single to start the top of the eighth. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native kept calm under pressure striking out the next three batters to end the inning and the scoring threat.
On the afternoon the Broncos registered just five hits with Allison being one of the big bats in the Bronco line-up going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Junior Mitchell Ho saw his team-season high 10-game hit streak come to an end along with junior Brett Sunde ending his streak of 15 straight games reaching base.
The Brown and Gold will be back in action tomorrow for game two of their weekend series against Buffalo with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Robert J. Bobb Stadium.
