KALAMAZOO, MI – After a pitching duel, the Kalamazoo Growlers dropped another game to the Madison Mallards on the second Stryker STEM Education Day of the season.
Starting pitcher Derek Carr from Ohio University went 5.0 innings pitched with one run on four hits in front of around 3,000 students, teachers, and educators from the Kalamazoo area. But the showstopper today was Madison’s starting pitcher, Dalton Wiggons from Marietta College. Wiggons went 8.0 innings pitched and only allowed one run on two hits. Last night’s problem for the Growlers was not stringing hits together; today’s problem was not getting hits at all. Wiggons sat down fifteen Growlers in a row in his outstanding performance.
The game was close, with both teams only having scored one run until the Mallards took flight in the top of the eighth inning and didn’t look back. It started off with a single from Nick Schrader then he advanced to second on the hit-by-pitch to Garrett Kueber. Drew Ober then reached safely on an error. Jake Randa then hit a bases-clearing double to right-center field. Following was a no-doubt homer to left field from Tyler Plantier to put Madison up 6-to-1. The Mallards left that inning leading the Growlers 7-to-1, which would be the ending score on the day.
Unlike last night, the Growlers could not get a rally going in the bottom of the ninth inning. Donovan Clark reached safely on an infield single, but he was the only runner for Kalamazoo in the bottom of the ninth.
After getting swept by the Mallards, Kalamazoo will head to Kenosha to face the Kingfish on Wednesday and Thursday, and then they are back in action at Homer Stryker Field on Friday and Saturday to face off against the Green Bay Bulldogs.
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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.