LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Rockford Rivets rode six scoreless innings from starting pitcher Nick Drahozal to a 2-1 win over the Kenosha Kingfish on Wednesday at Rivets Stadium.

Drahozal (1-0) scattered five hits for the win. Tyler Thornton struck out four in three innings for the save in his first Rockford appearance. Kenosha starter Charlie Hecht (1-1) struck out seven, but gave up two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings and took the loss.

The Rivets took an early lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Ricardo Ramirez drove in Jacob Vander Wal on a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Ramirez singled in the Rivets’ other run.

In the eighth inning, the Kingfish broke the shutout on a RBI groundout by Wes Weeks.

The Rivets travel to Kenosha for the second game of the four-game series, at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Broadcasts and live streams can be found at NorthwoodsLeague.com.

Rockford is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets) and Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com. For more information, visit RockfordRivets.com.