After a four-game road trip to Michigan, the Kokomo Jackrabbits returned home with a 7-3 loss against the Royal Oak Leprechauns on Sunday.

Self-inflicted wounds seemed to be the theme throughout Sunday’s four-run loss, as Kokomo walked 11 batters and hit an additional three. Kokomo has now lost two in a row, having walked 11 batters in each of those losses.

In Sunday’s matchup, Kokomo’s 11 walks compared to Royal Oak’s one gave the Leprechauns plenty of chances to take advantage offensively. Royal Oak recorded just three hits on Sunday but relied on free baserunners to help generate seven runs.

“Our pitchers have to throw first-pitch strikes, and we have to stop walks,” Jackrabbits manager Johnston Hobbs said. “We had 15 freebies today. It doesn’t matter how many hits we have; it’s going to be tough to win when we give up 15 bags.”

The Leprechauns set the tone early in the contest, jumping on Kokomo’s starter Tate Mullens in the second inning. An RBI double from Collin Overhalt and a sacrifice fly from Riley Frost put the Leprechauns up 2-0 after the second inning. Mullens, a Kankakee Community College product, exited the game after three innings. He walked four batters and allowed just one hit and was ultimately charged with the loss.

Royal Oak’s starting pitcher Andrew Abler picked up a well-deserved win, going six innings of scoreless baseball and striking out seven while allowing just three hits. Abler, who plays college baseball at Harvard, made his second appearance of the year on Sunday, collecting his first win this summer.

As Royal Oak led 3-0 heading into the eighth, two hit batters and three more walks allowed the Leprechauns to go up 7-0.

A JJ Dutton RBI triple to right-center scored Kokomo’s first run of the game, making it 7-1 after eight innings. In the ninth, Kokomo’s Jack Dupuis and James Oman both doubled to right-center and went around to score before the game ended. Five of Kokomo’s seven hits went for extra bases, a positive indicator moving forward.

With the second week of the season upon us, adjusting to traveling and new routines is all part of the learning process in the Northwoods League.

“The first two weeks are all about analyzing what we’ve got because it doesn’t matter what you do in the first two weeks in this league; there are just so many games,” Hobbs said. “The main point is we can get hot once we make a couple of adjustments. The hitting has definitely been there; we just have to get our pitchers to throw some strikes.”

The Kokomo Jackrabbits will finish off the four-game series against the Royal Oak Leprechauns at Kokomo Municipal Stadium on Monday, June 3, with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch.