MADISON, WI- The Kalamazoo Growlers could not complete a weekend series sweep in Madison as they fell to the Mallards 6-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Madison scored all of its runs in the third inning off of Kalamazoo starter Tyler Drabick. Drabick had retired the first six Mallards he faced, but wasn’t able to make it out of the third as the Mallards deadly offense notched six hits and six runs. Drabick finished with 2.2ip, 6H, 6R, 2BB, and 2K.
Three of the runs for Madison scored on a bases clearing single by Jake Randa, it would be Randa’s only hit of the day.
Madison also got big days from Justice Bigbie and Trevor Schweke. Bigbie went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s and a double, while Schweke went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
The Growlers got on the board first with three runs in the second inning. George Mendazona walked, and Donovan Clark smacked a 2-RBI single off of Mallards starter Sean Leland. Leland would not make it out of the second inning, giving up 3 runs in 1.1IP.
The two offensive outbursts were all the offense the game would see as both bullpens dominated, despite each team being forced to use multiple arms after their starters early exit.
The Growlers struggled at the plate despite seeing mainly bullpen arms as no Growler had a multi-hit day, only notching 5 hits as a team.
With the win the Mallards became the first team to 40 wins in the Northwoods League, and improved their record to 4-2 against Kalamazoo in 2018.
This is the third straight series that the Growlers have split at Warner Park, dating back to 2017.
Kalamazoo will be back at Homer Stryker Field for a matchup with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, first pitch at 7:05.
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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.