Kalamazoo, MI- The Growlers and MacDaddies battled squared off in their first matchups of the new five-inning doubleheader format, with the MacDaddies taking the game one win and rallying from two runs down in the bottom of the fifth of game two to end it in a draw.
Ahead of game one, it was a catchers duel in the pregame home run derby, with Jaekob Sallee (Hillsdale College) getting the best of Luke Stephenson (Xavier University) by a score of 4-3.
The MacDaddies struck first in game one, taking the lead when Garrett Navarra (Central Michigan University) came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Growlers managed to tie up the game with their final at-bats in the top of the fifth, when Brett Barrera (Stanford University) launched a sacrifice fly to score Ben Chosid (Kalamazoo College).
In their last chance to take game one, the MacDaddies walked it off when Kyle Nott (Central Michigan University) came home to score courtesy of a sacrifice fly off the bat of Patrick Ardnt (Bellarmine University).
Ahead of game two, it was a duel of utility fielders Jake Topolski (Duke University) for the Growlers and Chase Coselman (Kalamazoo College) for the MacDaddies, with each player blasting six homers.
The MacDaddies jumped out to the early lead once again in game two, with Kyle Ashworth (California Polytechnic State University) coming home off a wild pitch. Coselman then knocked a single to bring home Navarra, and would later come around to score himself off an Alex Ludwick (Baldwin Wallace University) single.
The Growlers got a run back in the second when Ben Van Cleve (University of Mississippi) blasted his first home run of the year. That same inning, Topolski would come around to score off a Barrera sacrifice fly.
The Growlers then were able to tie the game in the third, when Will Morrison (Western Michigan University) capitalized on an error to score.
The Growlers recaptured the lead in the top of the fifth, when Carson Greene (Stanford University) delivered with a 2-RBI double in the clutch.
The MacDaddies however refused to go down without a fight, capitalizing on a handful of Growlers mistakes and scooting Ashworth and Gavin Doyle (Western Michigan University) across the plate to tie the game at 5, where the score would remain for the first tie in the Southwest Michigan pod.
The Growlers are back in action tomorrow night for a five-inning doubleheader against the Battle Creek Bombers, with the first home-run derby slated for a 5:15 start.