Tyler Howard struck out nine in a complete-game, five-hitter as the Hamilton Cardinals beat the Kitchener Panthers 2-1 Friday night at Arnold Anderson Stadium.

Howard walked two and allowed an RBI single to Mike Glinka in the fourth inning as he improved to 2-3.

Offensively, Michael Ssemanda had two hits and an RBI, and Tyler Wood drove in the other run. Laine Renaud had a hit, run and stolen base.

Hamilton is 14-18. The 14 wins are the most the Cardinals have had in a regular season since 2013 when the Cardinals had 16 wins in the experimental 42 game season.

For Kitchener, Keegan Marsden went 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base.

Christian Hauck took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over eight innings.

Kitchener dropped to 22-10.

ALUMNI DAY WEEKEND

Sunday, is Alumni Day for the Cardinals as they and the IBL honour Dean DiCenzo and Scott Gardiner with Golden Bats during a pre-game ceremony.  Hamilton plays Burlington Herd at 2 p.m.in Bernie Arbour Stadium and all Hamilton Cardinals Alumni will be admitted to the game free of charge.

Bernie Arbour Stadium is situated at the corner of Upper Kenilworth and Mohawk Road East.