Balanced Effort Paces Vrable’s Vikings in 6-0 Pizza Bowl Win
October 14, 2016 | Baseball
Five different players finish with at least two hits as Vrable’s Vikings take 2-0 Pizza Bowl lead
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Five different players finished with at least two hits while junior righthander Kade McClure anchored a dominant pitching performance as Vrable's Vikings gained a 2-0 lead in the 11th annual Pizza Bowl with Friday afternoon's 6-0 win over Strader's Raiders at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Senior outfielder Logan Taylor followed his three-hit outing in Thursday's opener by finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI, two walks and a run scored. Junior catcher Colby Fitch was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI and freshman infielder Logan Wyatt was 2-of-4 with a double, two RBI and scored twice. Senior outfielder Colin Lyman added two hits, two walks, two stolen bases and scored two runs and freshman infielder Tyler Fitzgerald had three hits for the Vikings.
On the mound, McClure had two strikeouts and did not allow a hit in 3.2 innings as the Vikings clinched their second straight shutout following Thursday's 5-0 victory in Game 1. Freshman righthander Shay Smiddy followed with two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief before freshman lefthander Adam Elliott registered a pair of strikeouts in two shutout innings. Junior righty Mac Welsh added a scoreless eighth inning before senior righthander Jake Sparger completed the shutout with one strikeout in the ninth.
The Pizza Bowl will continue with Game 3 on Sunday at 2 p.m., ET. Batting practice will begin at 12:45 p.m., and admission is free.
PIZZA BOWL ROSTERS
The two teams in this year's Pizza Bowl series are guided by assistant coach Adam Vrable and former Louisville pitcher Robert Strader, a student assistant this fall and a pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization. The roster for Strader's Raiders includes Michael Bollmer, Sam Bordner, Noah Burkholder, Chandler Dale, Drew Ellis, Daniel Fischer, Shane Hummel, Justin Lavey, Daniel Little, Michael McAvene, Matt McCarty, Brendan McKay, J.D. Mundt, Zeke Pinkham, Pat Rumoro, Phillip Sanderson, Josh Stowers, Ethan Stringer, Ryan Summers, Riley Thompson and Adam Wolf. The Vrable's Vikings roster features Nick Bennett, Austin Clemons, Austin Dickey, Adam Elliott, Colby Fitch, Tyler Fitzgerald, Lincoln Henzman, Bryan Hoeing, Colin Lyman, Devin Mann, Rabon Martin, Kade McClure, Danny Oriente, Shay Smiddy, Ryan Smith, Jake Sparger, Hunter Sullivan, Logan Taylor, Mac Welsh and Logan Wyatt.
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 University of Louisville 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.
FOLLOWING THE CARDINALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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