Fond du Lac, Wi. – Kyle Virbitsky tossed eight innings of one hit baseball on the mound for the Growlers, leading them to a 3-2 win over the Dock Spiders.

The Growlers scored two runs in the seventh inning to give them the lead, and would hold on for their first victory in the month of August.

Virbitsky’s first inning was the only rough patch of his outing, as he allowed both runs in the game for the Dock Spiders in the frame. The runs came on just one hit, and the second run was unearned due to a fielding error.

The Growlers cut into the lead in the third inning. Sam Faith began the inning by reaching second on an error by the left fielder Jacob Adams. Two batters later Ivan Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to center field for the first run of the day for the Growlers.

Kalamazoo took the lead in the seventh inning pushing two runs across against the bull pen of the Dock Spiders. Sam Hall began the inning with a walk then Faith singled to left. Jared Miller placed a perfect bunt down the third base line for a base hit. Ivan Johnson grounded out to second to score Hall and tie the game, then Zach Daniels hit a sacrifice fly to plate pinch runner Cayman Richardson to give the Growlers the lead.

The Dock Spiders only were able to get one man on base from the second through the eighth inning on a walk in the third from Virbitsky. After the walk he proceeded to retire the next 15 batters he faced on the mound .

Mason Shinabery came on in the ninth inning and picked up his ninth save of the season for Kalamazoo. He worked around two base hits to end the game.

Kalamazoo will look for the sweep tomorrow against the Dock Spiders with first pitch at 6:35 C.T.

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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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, 200 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.kalamazoogrowlers.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.