Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks struggled to ignite their offense Saturday evening against the Kalamazoo Growlers in a 3-1 loss at Kapco Park. With the loss, the Chinooks fall to 9-8 in the second half of the Northwoods League season despite beginning 6-0. Lakeshore has lost eight of its last 11 contests.

The Chinooks fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning, and that deficit grew to 3-0 in the top of the eighth inning.. Lakeshore only had one baserunner reach scoring position before the bottom of the eighth, when the Chinooks scored their only run of the game on catcher Dallas Beaver’s RBI sacrifice fly.

Lakeshore began the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back walks to put the tying run on base, but three straight outs stranded those runners and Kalamazoo held on for the 3-1 victory. Ironically, it was first baseman Ronald Sweeny III, who represented the winning run, who made the final out of the game for Lakeshore. Sweeny III went 3-for-4 on the night, accounting for half of the Chinooks’ base hits.

Of the six hits, none went for extra bases, a recent trend that has led to a stagnant, station-to-station offense for Lakeshore.

Right-hander Austin Jones was the tough-luck loser for the Chinooks. He pitched well enough to deserve his third consecutive victory, hurling seven solid innings while allowing just one run. In his last three starts, Jones has allowed just two earned runs in 20 innings pitched, good for a 0.90 earned run average.

Compare that to Jones’ first six starts of the year, in which he allowed 18 earned runs in 22 2/3 innings on the mound, a 7.15 ERA. His seven-inning outing matches a season-high from July 8, when he hurled seven scoreless innings against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. Against the Growlers, the 27 batters he faced were a season-high.

Despite allowing seven hits to Kalamazoo, Jones worked out of trouble by staying in the strike zone and relying on his fielders behind him, as he walked only one batter but also struck out just one. Jones hasn’t been known as a strikeout pitcher this summer, but faulty control has often gotten him into trouble in previous starts. Before Saturday, Jones allowed 0.7 walks per inning pitched.

Relieving Jones was left-hander Kyle Huckaby, who allowed two runs in the eighth inning that proved to be key insurance runs for Kalamazoo. Huckaby, usually a stalwart out of the bullpen for Lakeshore, has struggled now in two games against the Growlers, allowing three runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings against Kalamazoo.

The Chinooks will look for a bounce-back performance in the second game of the two-game set against Kalamazoo at Kapco Park on Sunday. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. with right-hander Nate Odahl on the mound for Lakeshore. Odahl is 3-3 with a 5.46 ERA in seven starts this season. In two starts against the Growlers this summer, Odahl has allowed seven runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched.