WAUSAU, WI- On a dreary and rainy night at Athletic Park the Kalamazoo Growlers grinded their way to a 3-1 win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks on Friday night.

Kalamazoo never trailed after they scored a run in the third inning on a Matt Mervis sacrifice fly, and two more in the sixth inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Sam Faith and Jared Miller.

Although the Growlers never trailed, there were many tense moments as a Woodchucks team fighting for their playoff lives battled back. Kalamazoo closer Mason Shinabery was unexpectedly asked to relieve Andrew O’Dwyer with one out in the eighth and a runner on third. As Shinabery walked to the mound rain began to pour onto the field, forcing Shinabery to constantly pound mud off his cleats. Shinabery also pitched in the Growlers win Thursday, picking up the save. Despite all those factors working against Shinabery, the pitching machine gutted out his sixth save of the season, at one point throwing 13 consecutive strikes.

The save was Shinabery’s sixth of the year, tying the Growlers franchise record set by Nick Wernke in 2015.

Shinabery was only the end of a fantastic showing from the Growlers pitching staff. Starter Adam Wheaton tossed five innings without surrendering a run in his return to the Growlers rotation, and new Growler pitcher Joe Boyle pitched a scoreless sixth, throwing multiple pitches at 99 MPH.

Kalamazoo improved their record to 25-0 when leading after the sixth inning due to the excellent pitching, as the Growlers offense continues its struggles on the road trip. Kalamazoo is only averaging three runs a game over the last four games, an uncharacteristic stretch for a Growlers offense that has felt unstoppable at times over the summer.

The sweep of the Woodchucks in Wausau was the first sweep on the road for the Growlers since June 19-20 against the Green Bay Bullfrogs. The Growlers are now 4-0 against the Woodchucks in 2018.

Kalamazoo will continue its six-game road trip through Wisconsin as they head to Mequon to battle the Lakeshore Chinooks for a weekend series at Kapco Park.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, 190 former 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 (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.growlersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Growlers as your favorite team.