LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Kalamazoo baseball team faced a top-20 team in consecutive outings on day two of the Midwest Regional Championship as the Hornets suffered a 4-2 setback to No. 16 North Central on Thursday afternoon.
In an elimination game, North Central (31-11) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. With the Hornets' ace Ryan Orr on the mound, Chris Hill hit a three-run home run to left field to give North Central an early lead.
Kalamazoo (24-20-1) got on the board in the second inning with back-to-back doubles from Brett Garwood and Josh Reuter to cut the margin to 3-1.
North Central extended its lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth following two singles and a pair of sacrifices to plate a run.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth a walk, single and error led to a score as Kalamazoo’s Chase Shelbourne touched home after an RBI-single from Brett Garwood to yield the final score.
Kalamazoo connected on six hits while North Central recorded nine.
Orr ended the day by throwing six innings of work and striking out eight while giving up four earned runs.
Garwood led the way offensively for the Hornets going 3-for-4 in the batter's box with a run scored. Reuter, Ian Kobernick and Nate Donovan also recorded hits for the Hornets.