KALAMAZOO, MI – The Kalamazoo Growlers begin the 2017 season 2-0 after sweeping the Rockford Rivets. The final score was 13-4 at Homer Stryker Field for today’s STEM Education Day game presented by Stryker. The team picked up momentum when they batting in seven runs at the bottom of the fourth inning and went on to tally another six runs. Three runs were scored by third baseman Colin Boerst (Hillsdale College) and two each by Jason Sullivan (CMU), Jake Gleason (GVSU), Ryan Mergener (Wayne State), and Kyle Ziegler (Northwood Univ.). The Growlers begin a two-game series against the Battle Creek Bombers tomorrow, playing Thursday’s game at C.O. Brown Stadium and returning home Friday.

The Growlers got on board midway through the game with a line drive double by Nick Hutchins that Jason Sullivan also scored on. Colin Boerst brought Hutchins to home plate with a grounder past the 2nd baseman to tally a solid 4 runs. Javier Martinez entered the game with a full house on the field, with a fly ball to centerfield bouncing off the back wall to bring his RBI to three for the season and taking the Growlers to a six point lead. The Growlers could not be stopped with Sullivan back up to bat, hitting with a line drive to centerfield, bringing in another runner, Jeff Riedel to place 7 runs on the board. 

The Rivets struggled at the beginning of the game and weren't able to rack up any runs until the top of the 6th inning. When the Growlers Riedel had a fly ball double hit to left centerfield, Neal brought his RBI to 2 putting 3 total runs on the board for the Rockford Rivets. The Rivets began to chase after the seven point lead the Growlers took after in the beginning by bringing in an additional two runs with Neal having a total of 4 RBI in the game.

Kalamazoo didn’t let up on Rockford as they pushed the throttle in the bottom of the 8th, with Gleason, Huff, and Mergener getting on base early. Riedel then brought an additional run after a grounder and an error by Lowe for the Rivets. Both Hutchins and Sullivan increased the RBI bringing the Growlers score to 13 total runs. With the 3rd error in the bottom of the 8th, the Growlers were able to seal the deal.

The Growlers now start their 2017 season off undefeated and are charged to take on their rivals, the Battle Creek Bombers, tomorrow. The two teams will meet at C.O. Brown Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT on June 1, 2017.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  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.​