The Florence Freedom have struggled of late, losing three games in a row to get swept by the Kalamazoo Kings. Good pitching and big innings doomed the Freedom, as Kalamazoo picked up a 8-1 victory in the final game of a three game series against the Freedom.

After a scoreless first inning, Kalamazoo broke the game open in the top of the second inning. The ninth hitter in the Kalamazoo lineup, Jeff Grose, hit a grand slam to give Kalamazoo a four run lead. The long ball was only Grose’s second homer of the season. Kalamazoo scored an additional run in the inning when Joe Ramos hit a two out single to score leadoff hitter Brandon Anderson to extent their lead to 5-0.

Five runs would be all the Kings would need, as their pitching was outstanding throughout the game. John Brownell pitched six innings and only gave up one run on 98 pitches. Joe Catanese pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to record his first save of the season. The Freedom only managed one run and that came early in the bottom of the second inning. Ryan Basham hit leadoff double and scored on a Billy Mottram single to record the Freedom’s only run of the game, which is Florence’s season low for runs this season.

Ryan Basham was the one bright spot for the Florence offense. Basham broke out of his slump hitting 3-3 with two doubles.

Kalamazoo added three runs in the top of the ninth inning, giving the Kings a 8-1 lead and putting the game out of reach for the Freedom.

The Florence Freedom will try to turn things around when the Midwest Sliders come to town for a three game series starting on June 25th.