By Sedric Granger

Battle Creek, MI- The Battle Creek Battle Jacks fell to the Kokomo Jackrabbits, 2-1, despite a phenomenal showing from the Battle Jacks pitching staff.

After the two teams scored 26 combined runs in game one of the series, the pitching and defense for both teams took control of game two. Hunter Varnadoe (Middle Georgia State University) got the start for Battle Creek, going two innings, striking out a pair of Kokomo batters, and yielding one run. The bullpen was phenomenal for the Battle Jacks. Kane Elmy (Kellogg Community College), Jacob Spencer (Kellogg Community College), Dylan Howanitz (West Chester University), and Tre Benjamin (Western Illinois University) allowed only five combined hits and one earned run through the final seven innings. Unfortunately for the dogs, two runs was all it took for Kokomo to win the pitcher’s duel.

Offensively, Battle Creek struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. After having a game where a trio of players had three or more RBI’s, the Battle Jacks went cold when runners were 90 feet away from scoring. The lone run of the day came from Brett Stanley (Kellogg Community College) when he took advantage of a throwing error and a wild pitch to cross the plate. In addition to Stanley, Coltrane Rubner (Davenport University) and Brock Daniels (University of Missouri) were bright spots in the lineup, each registering a multi-hit game.

The Battle Jacks (1-1) will head on the road to face off against the Kalamazoo Growlers in game one of the I-94 Rivalry on Wednesday.