KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Kalamazoo Growlers (30-32, 9-17) struggled on the mound, falling to the Royal Oak Leprechauns (36-26, 17-9) on Wednesday night.

The Leprechauns scored early and often, taking a 9-0 lead through the first four innings. The highlight for Royal Oak was their first two runs, scored off a Mason Barth home run.

Kalamazoo got on the board in the fifth inning, but only mustered two runs, trailing 9-2 following five innings.

Callan Royce threw two scoreless innings for the Growlers in the fifth and sixth inning. However, in the seventh inning, he allowed a two-out, two-run double. Patrick Ilitch then hit an RBI single to put the Leprechauns up 12-2.

In the top of the eighth inning, Trevor Johnson hit his 11th home run of the season, kickstarting Kalamazoo. Four additional runs scored on five more hits, moving the Growlers within five runs.

After a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning, Kalamazoo failed to score in the ninth inning, falling 12-7.

The Growlers earned 13 hits on the day, eight of which came from the trio of Trevor Johnson, Phillip Thigpen and Chase Thomas, who hit fourth, fifth and sixth in the batting order.

Kalamazoo heads home for two games against the Richmond Flying Mummies beginning Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. EDT.