MEQUON, Wis. — The Kalamazoo Growlers (21-14) struggled off the jump, falling 8-5 against the Lakeshore Chinooks (17-15) Sunday afternoon.

Carter Kutz and Henry Slaby began the game going toe-for-toe, with both pitchers flying through two scoreless innings. Slaby was the first man to give an inch and the Chinooks took a mile.

A five run inning on five hits put Lakeshore up 5-0 after three, and the Chinooks added one more in the fourth.

Josh Campbell brought the Growlers within four on a two-run double, but the Chinooks quickly answered with two more runs, taking an 8-2 lead.

That lead continued into the ninth when Kalamazoo recorded two quick outs. From there, the offense found its groove, scoring three runs and bringing up the tying runner in an 8-5 final.

Pitching wise, Slaby ended his day after 3.1 innings with Christian Forniss, Bryce Brannon, and Dylan Wipf eating the final few innings for Kalamazoo.

Kalamazoo missed an opportunity to take control of their destiny with the loss tonight as a Traverse City Pit Spitters loss keeps Kalamazoo in the race with one day to go.

The Growlers have their final matchup against the Chinooks Monday night while Traverse City faces the Kenosha Kingfish once again.

The playoff scenarios are as follows:

TVC win = Pit Spitters win the first half

TVC loss + KZO win = Growlers win the first half

TVC loss + KZO loss = Kingfish win the first half