MUNCIE, IN-The Golden Flashes clinched the 16th regular-season title in program history with an emphatic 29-11 victory at Ball State on Thursday afternoon.

Every starter had a hit, run scored and a RBI in the offensive onslaught on Thursday. It was a team effort top to bottom as the Flashes set season highs in runs, rbi and homers in the victory.

Both Jake Casey and Mack Timbrook enjoyed two homer days, with Casey driving in seven runs and Timbrook scoring six times. It is Casey's second two-homer, seven rbi game of the season, matching the feat he set against Youngstown State. Timbrook became the first Golden Flash to cross the plate six times since Jason Patton did it at Ohio during the 2009 season.

The Flashes got the offense rolling in the second with Casey's first homer of the game, a three-run shot to center field. Timbrook followed with a solo shot to make it a 4-0 ballgame. Kent State would break it open in the third and the fourth scoring 10 times in each frame. Highlighting the outburst was a Kyle Jackson three-run homer in the third inning and a Casey grand slam in the fourth.

That would be more than enough offense for the Kent State staff. Benny Roebuck got his sixth win of the season, striking out five in 3.2 innings of relief of starter Ben Cruikshank. Jaden Varner would get the final three outs and assure that the conference tournament rolled through Schoonover Stadium.

The win moves Kent State to 38-14 overall and 22-6 in the MAC while Ball State sits at 33-19 and 19-9 in conference play. The two teams will be back at it again tomorrow with a 3 p.m. first pitch set from Muncie.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan baseball team opened up its series against rival Central Michigan with an 11-6 win on Thursday. The victory clinched WMU's spot in next week's MAC Tournament, which will be hosted by regular season champion Kent State. It will be the first appearance for the Broncos in the tournament since 2017.

The win was also Western Michigan's seventh consecutive home victory, marking WMU's longest home winning streak since a seven-game run during the 2006 campaign. The Broncos are 9-3 at home in 2023, and 9-1 in conference play within the friendly confines of Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
 
Dylan Nevar picked up right where he left off last Sunday, driving in a team-high four for the day to give him 10 RBIs in his last two games. Josh Swinehart joined in with three RBIs, while Jimmy Allen went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of runs batted in. Gavin Doyle equaled a pair of career highs with four walks and four runs scored.
 
Western Michigan got its offense rolling early as it plated four in the bottom of the first. Allen kicked things off with a two-run double into the right field corner, and Nevar then followed with a sacrifice fly. A CMU error helped WMU stretch its early advantage to 4-0.
 
A solo home run got the Chippewas their first run of the day in the top of the second.
 
WMU pushed its lead out to five, 6-1, in the third, as Nevar plated Cade Sullivan with a single, and Swinehart brought Doyle home with a sacrifice fly.
 
Central Michigan pushed across three in the fourth to trim the margin to 6-4. The Chippewas brought the tying run to the plate, but WMU starter Brady Miller escaped further damage with an inning-ending strikeout.
 
Nevar and Swinehart gave the Broncos some more breathing room in the fifth, as each drove in another run to increase the lead to 8-4.
 
The duo of Nevar and Swinehart were at it once again in the seventh, as Nevar picked up an RBI double and Swinehart notched a run-scoring base hit. Grady Mee then got in the act with an RBI single to bring home WMU's finally tally of the contest.
 
Miller picked up the win on the mound for the Broncos, as he worked 5.2 innings and racked up eight strikeouts. The victory was his team-leading seventh of the season, which is one shy of the overall league lead. Miller leads the MAC with seven wins in conference play.
 
Behind Miller, Joe Shapiro got Western Michigan out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with a strikeout. Hayden Berg then worked the final three frames to pick up his fourth save of the season.
 
Due to forecasted rain, the middle game of the series between the Broncos and Chippewas has been moved up to a 10:05 am first pitch on Friday morning.  

TOLEDO, Ohio – Freshman DJ Newman was dominant on the hill and at the plate on Thursday (May 18), as the Bowling Green State University baseball team blanked the arch-rival University of Toledo, 4-0. The game, the opener of a three-game Mid-American Conference series, was held at Scott Park.

In just his third collegiate start on the mound, Newman pitched a gem. He fired eight innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits.

Newman was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for the Falcons (19-29, 12-16 MAC), with a walk and a run scored.

Adam Fallon continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 with a homer in the win. Tyler Ross and Nathan Archer also homered for the Orange and Brown.

All three round-trippers were leadoff homers. Ross began the second inning by taking Toledo (25-28, 13-15 MAC) starter Jack Walker deep for what would prove to be the only run BGSU would need.

Archer hit the first pitch of the fourth inning over the right-field fence to double the Falcons' lead, and Newman singled, moved to second on Sam Seidel's sac bunt and came around to score on a Kyle Gurney triple in the fifth.

Fallon capped the scoring by beginning the ninth inning with a solo shot to right.

The Rockets got an infield single in the first, and put two on with one out in the third. Newman, however, then proceeded to retire the next 17 Rockets before giving way to Connar Penrod.

Newman faced just three batters over the minimum, walking two and striking out a career-high eight.

Penrod got a routine grounder to third for the first out, then froze the next batter for a called third strike. The next UT hitter, Garret Pike, reached on a two-out infield error, ending a streak of 19-straight batters retired by BG pitching. But, Penrod responded by throwing a game-ending third strike past Rocket cleanup hitter Mason Sykes.

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips opened the final series of the season with a 7-6 win over the Ohio Bobcats at Skeeles Field on Thursday.

Akron started the game off right as junior CF Jack Poist (Hoover, ala.) sent the first pitch over the right field fence to give Akron a 1-0 advantage. Akron scattered 12 hits for the seven runs with sophomore C Andrew Horvath (Aurora, Ohio) leading the way with a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the plate. Horvath launched his third homerun of the season to go along with three base hits, two runs scored and one RBI.

Poist, graduate SS Nick Arrivo (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and junior OF Jack Firestone (Zionsville, Ind.) registered two hits apiece. Poist followed the game-opening bomb with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while Arrivo also doubled while adding a base hit and sacrifice flyout (2-of-3) for a pair of RBI. Firestone went 2-of-3 with a run scored. Senior Greyson Droste (Fishers, Ind.) and sophomore OF Sam Seeker (Norton, Ohio) rounded out the offensive production with one RBI single each with Seeker scoring twice.

Akron followed with a pair of runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 advantage. The Bobcats scored in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Zips countered in both occasions to keep the three-run lead, 5-2. Akron added runs in the seventh and eighth innings for a commanding five-run lead, 7-2, but the Bobcats retaliated with four runs in the final frame and couldn't push the tying run across the plate.

Akron junior SP Brett Dietrich (Goshen, Ohio) earned the win, hurling 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Junior relief pitcher Yassir Kahook (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) was awarded the save with 3.1 innings of work with five hits and four runs.

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Senior Thomas House (Ross, Ohio-Ross) was dominant on Thursday, May 18, fanning nine Northern Illinois University hitters over eight innings of work to help propel the Eastern Michigan University baseball team past the Huskies, 11-2, in Mid-American Conference action at Oestrike Stadium.

In addition to his nine strikeouts, House (3-3) threw eight innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on five hits and walking eight for Eastern Michigan (25-26, 10-18 MAC). Sophomore Grant Reising (Canton, Mich.-Divine Child-Missouri) also made an impact on the mound for the Eagles, throwing one shutout inning while allowing no hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.

Offensively, the Eagles were paced by graduate student Kyle Schroedle (Redding, Calif.-University Prep-Crown College), who went 2-for-4 on the day with a home run and three RBI. Sophomore Logan Hugo (Essexville, Mich.-Essexville Garber) compiled a noteworthy performance as well, going 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and three RBI. Sophomore Josh Kross (Brunswick, Ohio-Brunswick-Toledo) also helped out for Eastern Michigan, putting together three hits in five trips to the plate while adding two doubles and two RBI.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard first, starting in the second inning. Eastern Michigan scored three times, all of them coming across on a three-run homer off the bat of Schroedle.

The Eagles then lost some of their lead, expanding on their advantage in the fourth inning after the Huskies cut it to 3-1. The Eastern Michigan offense exploded for seven runs, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Hugo and a two-run groundout from junior Cory Taylor (Shelbyville, Ind.-Shelbyville), which brought the Eagles lead to 10-1.

Northern Illinois narrowed Eastern Michigan's lead to 10-2 before the Eagles stretched the advantage to 11-2 in the seventh inning. The Eagles added a run on Kross' two-out RBI double. The score remained 11-2 for the rest of the game, as Eastern Michigan coasted to the win.