Kokomo, IN — The Kalamazoo Growlers (10-11) pushed in front early and never looked back, notching a 4-1 triumph over the host Kokomo Jackrabbits (12-10) at Kokomo Municipal Stadium Monday evening. The Growlers return to the win column and snap a five-game losing streak.

Kalamazoo struck first in the third inning with back-to-back RBI doubles by Anthony Cocco (Grand Valley State) and Hunter Thorn (Purdue Northwest) to grab an early 2-0 advantage. Kokomo responded in the bottom frame with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

In the visiting half of the sixth inning, the Growlers added an important insurance run with a squeeze bunt executed by Noah Marcoux (Davenport Univ.) scoring Fox Leum (North Iowa Area CC) to make it 3-1. KZoo capped off the offensive effort with a Dakota Kotowski (Missouri State) RBI triple to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Growlers starting pitcher Braydon Nelson (St. Bonaventure) posted a stellar outing on the bump to earn the win and improve to 2-0. Nelson went six strong innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with six strikeouts. In relief, DJ Moore (Huntington Univ.), Alex McCutcheon (Huntington Univ.) and Eamon Horwedel tossed a combined three shutout frames with four strikeouts. Horwedel earned his second save of the season.

The Kalamazoo Growlers return to the friendly confines of Homer Stryker Field for the first time in a week tomorrow night, hosting the Kenosha Kingfish for the opener of a two-game series. First pitch is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start.

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