PREVIEW: MAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP (Interstat) — WESTERN MICHIGAN VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS

AVON, Ohio (Interstat) — The Mid-American Conference baseball championship will feature a familiar matchup Wednesday as seed Western Michigan (26-22) faces seed Northern Illinois (31-17) at 1 p.m. at Avon’s Sports Complex.

The Broncos and Huskies meet for the fourth time in eight days, following a three-game series in Kalamazoo last weekend. Western Michigan took two of three, winning 7-6 on Saturday, 12-2 on Friday and losing 8-6 on Thursday.

Wednesday’s winner advances to the championship round.

Western Michigan

The Broncos enter the tournament after splitting their final regular-season series with Northern Illinois. Western Michigan went 3-3 over its last six games, including a road series loss at Bowling Green (May 8-10) and a home series win over Miami (Ohio) on May 1-3.

Right-handed pitcher Matt Maloney is a key arm for the Broncos. In his most recent outing Saturday against the Huskies, Maloney threw 3.0 innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs with two strikeouts in a 7-6 win. Over his last four appearances, Maloney has a 1.35 ERA across 6.2 innings, with one outing (May 2 vs. Miami) where he allowed three earned runs in 1.2 innings.

First baseman Avery Thielman drove in two runs Saturday, going 2-for-5.

Northern Illinois

The Huskies clinched the seed with a 31-17 record, including a 17-7 mark in MAC play. Northern Illinois went 4-3 in its final seven games, taking two of three from Ball State (May 8-10) and sweeping Central Michigan (May 1-3) before dropping two of three at Western Michigan.

Right-handed pitcher Blake Gaskey is a key reliever for the Huskies. In his last outing Saturday, Gaskey threw 4.0 innings, allowing no hits and two earned runs with one strikeout in a 6-7 loss. Over his last seven appearances, Gaskey has a 3.94 ERA, striking out 14 in 24.1 innings. He threw 5.0 scoreless innings against Ball State on May 10, allowing four hits with six strikeouts.

Relievers Max Vaisvila (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K on Saturday) and Cooper Cohn (0.2 IP, 0 H) also contributed in the series finale.

Series history

Western Michigan leads the season series 2-1 after the three-game set in Kalamazoo. The Broncos won 7-6 on Saturday, 12-2 on Friday; Northern Illinois won 8-6 on Thursday.