Madison, Wisc.-

The Kalaqmazoo Growler's high powered offense ran into a formidable Madison Mallards arm on Wednesday night in Madison, WI as lefthander Kirby Snead (University of Florida) surrendered only two hits, both singles, in six innings of work, and struck out five, defeating the Growlers in convincing fashion,  8-1.  Bryce Harman (East Carolina) recorded the lone RBI for Kalamazoo in the sixth inning, driving in Jared Kujawa (Western Michigan), who had the only other hit on the evening for the Growlers. Luke Bolka (East Carolina) started his fifth game of the year, pitched two innings and took the loss for Kalamazoo, falling to 0-3 for the season. Snead moved to 2-0 with the win for the Madison Mallards.

The Growlers slip to 0-1 in the second half, while Madison moves to 1-0 and leads the season series 2-1. These two teams go at it at Warner Park Thursday night as the Growlers Nick Wernke (West Virginia) takes the mound in the finale of the two game series. Kalamazoo comes home on Friday to host the 1st half division champion Lakeshore Chinooks in the first of two games. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm at Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo, MI.

The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel.  For more information, visit http://www.growlersbaseball.com.