Kalamazoo, Mi – The last three games the Kingfish have totaled more than 30 hits and tonight was no exception. The Kingfish flaunted their powerful bats once again tonight in Kalamazoo and beat the Growlers 12-5 in the series opener.

The Kingfish kept the swings coming all night long. They had 13 hits on the night with Pat Porter (3-5, 2R, 4RBI) continuing his hot streak and Spencer Gaa (2-4, 3R, 3RBI) showing his ability as the a dominant hitter.  

The Kingfish scored first in the game, putting up three runs. The Growlers were able to put up five against J.D Nielsen, who had some difficulty early on.  At the end of the first the score was already 5-3 and it was evident that this would be a high scoring affair.

Trevor Haas entered the game in relief starting in the third and showed his ability as a relief pitcher.  Tonight, Haas pitched four and one third innings and gave up four hits but no runs to hold the Growlers at five. He gets the win, his second of the year.

The Kingfish started chipping away almost immediately scoring a run in the second on a Brooks RBI to score Spencer Gaa and then scored another in the fourth on a Porter infield single to score Gaa again to tie the game. The King Elvis’ crew took the lead in the next inning after Buddy Reed doubled to lead-off the fifth and later scored on a C. J. Saylor single.  They added to the lead in the sixth when Porter singled again, this time a bloop shot into right to score Godinez. That was followed by Zach Ratcliff singling home Porter for RBI number 20 on the year.

Going into the ninth inning, the Kingfish led 8-5. They solidified their lead with four more runs including a three run homer from Gaa. The Kingfish now sit at a record of 14-12.

The Kingfish face the Growlers tomorrow and then travel to Battle Creek to battle the Bombers. The Kingfish return to historic Simmons Field on Saturday, 28th and will have special guest Ozzie Guillen in attendance.