KENOSHA, Wisconsin — Road trips haven’t been kind to the Traverse City Pit Spitters this season.
The Pit Spitters suffered their third loss in a row and dropped two straight on the road to the Kenosha Kingfish (10-8) on Friday, falling 2-1. The loss puts Traverse City to 3-5 on the road with six more games on deck before returning to Turtle Creek Stadium on June 21.
The Pit Spitters (9-9) fall 3.5 games behind the Rockford Rivets (12-5) for first place in the Great Lakes East Division, but they are tied with the Battle Creek Battle Jacks (9-9) for fourth in the GLE. The Spitters’ three-game losing streak moves them to 3-7 through their last 10 games after starting the season 7-2.
Kenosha got on the board early in the second inning with Justin Hausser getting walked, setting up Will Plattner for a two-out RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. Aaron Forrest’s night was cut short after two innings as he dropped to 0-3 on the season.
Forrest allowed one hit and one run while striking out three and walking one. After going to extra innings on Thursday against Kenosha, Traverse City utilized their bullpen throughout the night.
Trent Reed came on in relief for three innings while allowing one hit, striking out three and walking one on 36 pitches. Jake Brown held his own against Kenosha by keeping things afloat for 2.1 innings, striking out two and walking two on 36 pitches thrown.
Mason Hill relieved for Brown but allowed a run in the eighth inning to extend the deficient 2-0.
Michael Tchavdarov started the top of the ninth inning with a triple to right field, and Ethan Guerra tacked in an RBI single to cut the deficient to 2-1; but the Pit Spitters struggled to muster any runs after two ground outs and strikeout with a runner in scoring position.
Traverse City had multiple chances to get a run on the board after Kenosha took an early 1-0 lead. The Pit Spitters had runners on first and third with two outs in the third, but Cole Prout grounded out two pitches into his at-bat.
They also had runners on first and second the following inning, but Alfredo Velazquez grounded out on the first pitch he saw.
Kenosha starting pitcher Hudson Calhoun (3-0, 0.00 ERA) made the Pit Spitters’ night difficult at the plate by allowing four hits and walking four while striking out four. Kenosha’s bullpen combined for two hits, striking out five and walking one.
The Pit Spitters look to turn the ship around against the Kalamazoo Growlers for a two-game visit on Saturday and Sunday. Jagger Neely (1-1, 4.15 ERA) is slated to start for Traverse City on Saturday with a 6:35 p.m. start time.