Louisville Baseball End of Fall News and Notes
October 21, 2014 | Baseball
Scouts watched closely as junior Kyle Funkhouser made his fall debut on Saturday.
Pizza Bowl Game 3 Photo Gallery | Pizza Bowl Game 2 Photo Gallery
CardsTV Interview: Head Coach Dan McDonnell Reviews the Fall
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball team closed out six weeks of full-squad fall workouts last Saturday with the finale of the ninth annual Pizza Bowl series.
Following back-to-back College World Series berths in 2013 and 2014, the Cardinals begin a new era in 2015 with the inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. With the return of 19 letterwinners from last year's club, Louisville welcomed a talented group of newcomers to campus creating tremendous competition at each position on the field during the fall.
"It was a competitive fall and I thought the guys played hard," said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, who is entering his ninth season leading the program. "We had three good Pizza Bowl games that were very competitive. The pitchers controlled two of the three games, the hitters had their way in one of the games and that's baseball. We also know we have to improve in several areas and take advantage of these next five weeks before Thanksgiving."
The Kiekhefer Krush clinched the Pizza Bowl series title with a 2-1 victory in the finale on Saturday. After dropping last Wednesday's opener 2-1 to Vrable's Victors, the Krush evened the series with a 10-8 win on Friday before closing out the series on Saturday.
SCOUTS WATCH AS FUNKHOUSER RETURNS FOR PIZZA BOWL
Saturday's Pizza Bowl finale at Jim Patterson Stadium also featured the fall debut of junior righthander Kyle Funkhouser as more than 30 scouts watched three shutout innings of work for the Louisville All-American. After pitching more than 120 innings for the Cardinals during their College World Series season (13-3 record, 1.94 ERA, 122 strikeouts) and an additional 28 innings for the USA Collegiate National Team during the summer, Funkhouser limited his throwing this fall as McDonnell and Louisville pitching coach Roger Williams placed an emphasis on allowing the 6-3, 225-pounder to rest following the busy year.
"It was fun to see him on the mound and professional baseball was glad so the scouts could put their eyes on him one time this fall," McDonnell said. "I know Kyle was glad he got to throw because he was chomping at the bit."
Along with being chosen as an All-American by five different major organizations during his sophomore season for the Cardinals in 2014, Funkhouser was also named as the top professional prospect on the 2014 USA Collegiate National Team by Baseball America as well as Jim Callis of MLB.com.
FITCH IMPRESSES IN FALL DEBUT
One of the most impressive players this fall for the Cardinals was freshman catcher Colby Fitch from Rocheport, Mo. In 12 fall scrimmages, Fitch hit .563 with two home runs, three doubles, two triples, eight RBI and 10 walks. He also finished with a .674 on-base percentage and a .969 slugging percentage while gaining plenty of reps behind the plate.
"From an offensive standpoint and defensively, he had a great fall," McDonnell said of Fitch. "Playing next to Will Smith probably helped Colby and I think Coach (Eric) Snider did a great job with those guys and their throwing from behind the plate. Those two threw as well as we ever have in a fall, especially with the speed we have."
COACHES SEE STAR POWER IN SMITH
With the departure of graduating seniors Shane Crain and Kyle Gibson, sophomore Will Smith entered the fall as Louisville's only returning catcher from last year's squad. Having played in 39 games last season with 21 starts, Smith gained invaluable experience while also showing flashes of excellence in throwing out 12 of 17 attempted stolen bases. He continued his growth this fall with a strong performance at the plate hitting .368 with a team-high 13 RBI, four doubles, three triples and only three strikeouts in 45 total plate appearances.
"Will took a step forward this fall. It was great for him to play with Kyle Gibson and Shane Crain last season - two seniors with back-to-back trips to the College World Series," McDonnell explained. "It was a good year for him because he gained experience but we also gave him time to grow and learn. I've been letting professional baseball know, people in the Cape Cod League know and USA Baseball knows that the growth is there for Will. There is star power in that body - the make-up is there and the athleticism is there."
ADDITIONAL FALL NOTES AND STATS
Junior righty Anthony Kidston was terrific on the mound throughout the fall following a strong sophomore season in which he was 9-1 with a 3.40 ERA in 14 starts. The tandem of Funkhouser and Kidston give the Cardinals a talented and highly successful 1-2 punch on the front end of the pitching staff with a combined career record of 32-5 in two collegiate seasons... Freshman two-way talent Brendan McKay, who arrived on campus as a highly decorated lefty pitcher, was equally impressive at the plate in his first semester hitting .448 with four doubles, eight RBI and 11 walks in 41 plate appearances and 12 games... Junior corner infielder Danny Rosenbaum hit .359 driving in five with six walks in 47 plate appearances this fall.
UP NEXT FOR THE CARDINALS
Louisville will use the rest of the fall semester to focus on strength and conditioning while also using its limited time on the field to continue improving defensively and at the plate. The Cardinals will practice two hours per week on the field as the semester winds to an end while sports performance coach Zach Farrell will lead the conditioning charge. The end of the fall semester will be highlighted by the grueling Omaha Challenge, an intense test of physical and mental stamina.
2015 SCHEDULE UPDATE
The Cardinals' 2015 schedule is still several weeks from public release but fans can expect the slate to be arguably the most challenging and entertaining in school history. Louisville's debut season in the ACC will include weekend matchups with all six Atlantic Division foes (Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame and Wake Forest) as well as four of the seven Coastal Division teams. As always, the non-conference portion of the 2015 schedule will provide a unique regional and national challenge for the Cardinals as they attempt to make a third straight trip to Omaha.
ABOUT LOUISVILLE BASEBALL
Louisville returns 19 letterwinners from its 2014 squad, which finished 50-17 overall, won the program's fifth regular season conference championship in six seasons and hosted NCAA postseason games for the second straight year. The Cardinals defeated Kennesaw State in the Louisville Super Regional to clinch their third CWS berth in eight seasons under the guidance of head coach Dan McDonnell. Louisville, which has hosted six different rounds of NCAA postseason baseball in the last eight years, ended the season ranked as highly as sixth in the national polls.
Leading the list of returnees for Louisville in the 2015 season is junior righthanded pitcher Kyle Funkhouser, a Second Team All-American in 2014 who set a school record for wins finishing 13-3 overall with a 1.94 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 120.1 innings. The Cardinals also return senior infielder and 2014 All-Conference honoree Zach Lucas, talented starting pitchers Anthony Kidston (junior righty) and Josh Rogers (sophomore lefty).
In his eight seasons guiding the Louisville baseball program, McDonnell has placed the Cardinals among the nation's elite with the three College World Series berths, four NCAA Super Regional appearances, seven NCAA Regional bids, five conference regular season titles, two conference tournament titles, 14 All-Americans and 359 wins overall (seventh most nationally during that eight-year span).
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