Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan ended the 2009 season on a high note, coming from behind to beat Northern Illinois Saturday, 6-5. The Broncos honored their graduating class of Pedro Dager, Brent Gerlach, Neal Miller, Nathan Marquardt and Billy Morrison prior to the game.
Both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan posted two runs in the first inning. The Broncos' first run came from the bat of Chris Lewis, as he crushed a solo round tripper out over the fence in left center for his seventh home run of the season. Jamie Simpson followed with a single and scored after base hits by Nathan Marquardt and Tim Cross, Cross recording the RBI.
The Huskies went on to score two more runs in the top of the second to take a 4-2 lead. WMU got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Brad Wehrmeyer hit a leadoff triple and scored on a sac fly by McMillin.
Each team scored again in the sixth, and WMU came up with the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Marquardt scored for the Broncos in the sixth on a groundout by Brad Wehrmeyer after leading off with a base hit.
Gerlach started off the seventh with a triple for the Broncos and came across the dish on a double by Dager. Dager scored the winning run on a RBI single by Lewis.
Freshman Casey Webber (1-4) picked up his first career win on the mound, throwing in relief. He worked three innings, yielding one run on two hits. Seven of his nine outs came via strikeouts. Tim Mowry toed the rubber in the ninth inning, earning his fourth save of the year.
The Broncos conclude the 2009 season with an overall record of 14-35 and a Mid-American Conference record of 9-18. NIU finishes with a record of 19-34, 10-16 MAC.
