By: Noah Chavez

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – As the Royal Oak Leprechauns and Kalamazoo Growlers played for the third and fourth times in the last eight days, it was an even matchup at Honor Credit Union Stadium in the two-game set. After an 8-3 Royal Oak win on Friday night, Kalamazoo’s offense went off for a 14-4 win on Saturday.

In the opener on Friday, the two sides were all tied at 1-1 going into the sixth inning, but a three-run frame from the Leprechauns gave them a lead they would never relinquish. The scoring started with Oliver Service hitting a two-run home run, and four batters later Tate Deal would add on another with an RBI single.

Across the seventh and eighth innings, Royal Oak continued to put more runs on the board, with Michael Zielinski and Aamir Mitchell both contributing runs on base hits.

In the end, Michael Giroux pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to get the Leprechauns right in front of the finish line, while Blake Ilitch retired the only batter he faced to secure the five-run win.

On Saturday night, while it was the Growlers offense that found their swings at the plate for the most part, Service launched his second home run of the series, while Deal joined him with a home run as well.

For Leprechauns starter Spencer Boynton, although he took the loss, he pitched a stellar 4.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs with four strikeouts.

With just two games remaining in the first half, the Leprechauns will take on the Battle Jacks in a home-and-home two-game series, with Sunday’s game in Royal Oak and Monday’s contest in Battle Creek. First pitch from The Lucky Corner on Sunday evening will be at 4:05 p.m. ET.

Tickets can be purchased on the team’s website or at the gate. Fans can also follow the team across all social platforms to stay up to date.