Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Growlers deliver in crunch time, using a pair of 3-run rallies in the top of the 5th of both games to power past the Battle Creek Bombers. 

 

In the home run derby preceding game one, Adam Wheaton (Trine University) smashed five homers for the Growlers to one homer from Battle Creek’s Michael Morissette (Miami University (OH)), winning the derby for the Growlers. 

 

The Growlers struck first in game one, when Blake Dunn (Western Michigan University) delivered an RBI single to score Ben Van Cleve (University of Mississippi). 

 

The Bombers answered immediately with a solo home run off the bat of Brad Goulet (University of Akron). 

 

With their last at-bats in the top of the 5th, the Growlers recaptured the lead with a Trent Quartermaine (Ball State University) sacrifice fly to bring home Garrett Schultz (Xavier University). Brett Barrera (Stanford University) then delivered with a 2-RBI single to give the Growlers a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th.

 

Andre Orselli (Ball State University) struck out two Bombers en-route to earning the save and giving the Growlers the victory in game one. 

 

In game two, it was the Bombers jumping out to the early lead when Nate Stolze (Miami University (OH)) delivered a 2-RBI single, bringing home Joe Mason (University of Mount Olive), and Josh Swinehart (Western Michigan University).

 

The Growlers got one run back in the top of the 3rd thanks to a Carson Greene (Stanford University) sac-fly that brought Dunn home from 3rd. 

 

The Bombers however found an immediate answer with a moonshot off the bat of Matt Hogan (Vanderbilt University) that cleared the fence in right center to put the Bombers up 3-1.

 

The Growlers once again came up huge in the top of the 5th, with Dunn, Greene, and Quartermaine all delivering RBI’s, giving the Growlers the 4-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the 5th. 

 

This time the Growlers looked to Trey Nordmann (Howard College) to protect the lead, which he needed 20 pitches to do, earning his second save in the past three days. 

 

With the wins, the Growlers improve to 14-15-1, and tomorrow return to action against the Kalamazoo MacDaddies for a doubleheader with pre-game festivities at 5:15 and 8:00 PM.