KENOSHA, WI – Jack Nelson led the charge for the Kalamazoo Growlers on Wednesday night for pitching 5 innings en route to his league leading third win.

The Growlers notched their first shutout of the 2018 campaign with a 7-0 victory. They improved to 5-4 while the Kenosha Kingfish dropped to 4-4.

Nelson went five strong innings, walking two and striking out seven batters. He set down seven consecutive batters to end his outing from the third through the fifth inning.

Offensively Jared Miller went 3-for-5 after being moved up to the second spot in the batting order. He also drove in four runs and hit his first double as a Growler.

The scoring began for the Growlers in the second inning after Kingfish starter Cale Cuddie hit back-to-back batters and walked Parker Murdie to load the bases. After a Donavan Clark strikeout Miller delivered a two-out hit on a single up the middle to drive in two runs. Jason Sullivan followed with a walk to drive in Murdie. Niko Kavadas then stepped in to face Cuddie when Cuddie threw his 35^th pitch of the inning meaning he could not return to the game after the inning ended.

The scoring continued for the Growlers in the fifth when Clark and Miller both walked to drive in one run each. In the top of the sixth inning Brendan Rivoli singled home Baron Radcliff to give the Growlers a 6-0 lead.

A final run came across for the Growlers in the top of the ninth on a Miller double down the left field line.

Tom Vail made his Growlers debut in relief for Nelson and went 3 innings, walked four and struck out four. Mason Shinabery finished the game for the Growlers and struck out the side in the ninth.

Tomorrow at 7:35 Eastern the Growlers will once again take on the Kingfish and start Connor Adams on the mound.

=

###

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.