Cardinals Close Pizza Bowl with Monday's 2-2 Tie

Kyle Funkhouser (16)| Louisville v Morehead State | NCAA Regional | Photo By: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

Kyle Funkhouser delivered five shutout innings on Monday afternoon.

October 26, 2015 | Baseball

Funkhouser, McKay combine for eight strikeouts in 10 shutout innings; McGrath’s Marines defeat Adam’s Army 3-1-1

By: Garett Wall

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball team completed its fall schedule on Monday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium with McGrath's Marines and Adam's Army playing to a 2-2 tie in Game 5 of the 10th annual Pizza Bowl series.

The Marines won the series championship with a 3-1-1 record in the five-game series while previously clinching the title with Sunday's 2-0 victory in Game 4. For the second straight day, pitching was the story as All-Americans Kyle Funkhouser and Brendan McKay combined for eight strikeouts in 10 shutout innings in starting roles on Monday in a game slated for seven innings but extended to eight.

Funkhouser, a senior righthander, had four strikeouts and scattered four hits without issuing a walk in his five strong innings for the Army. McKay, a sophomore lefthander, also finished with four strikeouts while allowing just two hits and no walks in five dominant innings for the Marines.

Brendan McKay worked five shutout innings on Monday.

After the game remained scoreless through seven innings, senior Anthony Kidston, a two-way prep standout at Defiance High School before focusing as a pitcher with the Cardinals, came off the bench for a pinch hit, RBI double down the right field line to score junior infielder Nick Solak for the first run of the game. Junior first baseman Michael Bollmer followed with a RBI double to plate Kidston and give the Marines a 2-0 lead.

The Army answered in the bottom of the eighth and final frame with a pair of runs of their own. Junior outfielder Corey Ray drove in sophomore shortstop Devin Hairston with a RBI double for the first run of the inning. One batter later, Ray scored the tying run when Blake Tiberi reached on a fielding error by the Marines. Moments later, the Marines closed the game and kept the score even by following a double to right center by redshirt freshman Austin Clemons with a relay home from outfielder Colin Lyman to infielder Devin Mann to catcher Will Smith, who tagged Tiberi out as he tried to score from first.

Saturday's game completed fall workouts for the Cardinals, who will resume full-squad preparations for the 2016 season on Jan. 29. The opening weekend of college baseball in 2016 is set for Feb. 19-21, while Louisville's complete 2016 schedule will be released later this fall.

PIZZA BOWL ROSTERS
The two teams in this year's Pizza Bowl series were guided by assistant coach Adam Vrable and former Louisville pitcher Kyle McGrath, a student assistant this fall and a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization. The team names – Army and Marines – were chosen by the Louisville baseball program in appreciation for the United States Armed Forces.

Adam's Army included Daniel Little, Corey Ray, Chandler Dale, Danny Rosenbaum, Chris Botsoe, Sam Bordner, Austin Clemons, Lincoln Henzman, Kyle Funkhouser, Drew Harrington, Dylan Shoffner, Blake Tiberi, J.D. Mundt, Devin Hairston, Riley Thompson, Ryan Summers, Ryan Smith, Sean Leland, Jimmy Faul, Colby Fitch, Jake Sparger and Pat Rumoro. McGrath's Marines featured Riley Jackson, Anthony Kidston, Devin Mann, Drew Ellis, Zeke Pinkham, Nick Solak, Noah Burkholder, Kade McClure, Logan Taylor, Josh Stowers, Bryan Hoeing, Will Smith, Adam Wolf, Michael Bollmer, Colin Lyman, Brendan McKay, Shane Hummel, Zack Burdi and Mac Welsh.

ABOUT THE PIZZA BOWL
Upon his hiring as Louisville head coach in the summer of 2006, Dan McDonnell immediately created an atmosphere of competition throughout the Cardinals baseball program. Whether it's through conditioning in the Omaha Challenge, or in preseason scrimmages, McDonnell believes in creating competitive situations to give his players numerous opportunities to prepare for what they will see during conference and postseason games.

One of the most effective ways McDonnell and his coaching staff can provide the Louisville players with those competitive, game-like situations is through the annual Pizza Bowl series. Following approximately six weeks of fall practice sessions, the Cardinals take to the field for what started as a one-game scrimmage in the fall of 2006 and has become an ultra-competitive three-game or five-game intra-squad series. The winning team is rewarded by being served as much pizza as it would like by the losing squad, which in turn shares what is left. The Pizza Bowl series has become an exciting and highly anticipated ending to the fall for Louisville coaches, players and fans.

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