Kalamazoo, MI. — In a wire-to-wire offensive affair on a Sunday afternoon, the Kalamazoo Growlers (25-21, 9-5) fall short to the visiting Wisconsin Woodchucks (23-25, 4-8) by a finale score of 12-9 at Homer Stryker Field. The Woodchucks complete the two-game series sweep over Kalamazoo. Both teams knock 21 runs on a combined 25 hits in the ballgame.

Wisconsin struck first in the opening frame on a RBI groundout to second base to take the early 1-0 advantage. Kalamazoo quickly responded in the bottom frame with a RBI double from Shea Kramer (Utah) and the go-ahead RBI single by Rudy Maxwell (Duke) to give the Growlers their only lead of the ballgame at 2-1.

The Woodchucks answered with nine straight runs in the next three innings to take a 10-2 lead. Wisconsin drilled a lead-off solo home run in the third followed by a Woodchuck scoring on an error and a RBI single in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead. 

The offensive barrage came in the fourth inning as the Woodchucks compiled six runs on five hits with four home runs to take a commanding eight-run advantage. Kalamazoo fought back in the sixth inning with five runs of its own to cut the deficit to 10-7. The inning began with Kramer scoring on a wild pitch, Sullivan ripping a RBI single and a three-run double courtesy of Jake Topolski (Duke) to make it a three-run contest.

Wisconsin continued to pour on the offensive fireworks with a two-run triple in the seventh to extend the lead to 12-7. The Growlers tacked on their final runs of the afternoon in the ninth inning with a two-run shot from Maxwell to make it 12-9.

Woodchucks starting pitcher Beau Nichols earned the win, improving to 4-3. Growlers starter Spencer Juergens (Missouri) took the loss, falling to 1-2.

The Kalamazoo Growlers will have the next three days off due to the Northwoods League All-Star Break. Growlers starting pitcher Michael Dunkelberger (Indiana) will represent Kalamazoo in Waterloo, Iowa this week for the All-Star festivities. 

The Growlers begin the final stretch of the 2019 regular season with a six-game road swing, starting with a trip south to Kokomo, Indiana to face the Jackrabbits for a two-game series on Thursday, July 18. First pitch for game one is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start. 

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Currently in its’ 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.