Pinkham Leads Tiberi’s Tigers to Win in Pizza Bowl Opener
October 11, 2017 | Baseball
Junior catcher homered, drove in two runs and reached base four times in the victory
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior catcher Zeke Pinkham homered and reached base four times as Tiberi's Tigers opened the 2017 Pizza Bowl series with a 7-4 victory against Adam's A's on Wednesday at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Pinkham was 2-for-2 overall with two RBIs, one walk and was hit by a pitch as the Tigers overcame an early 2-0 deficit for the game one victory. Freshman infielder Cameron Masterman singled, walked, was hit by a pitch and scored once, while sophomore infielder Tyler Fitzgerald doubled, walked, stole two bases and scored once. Junior infielder Devin Mann chipped in with a RBI single and scored once.
On the mound, junior lefthander J.D. Mundt worked one inning of shutout relief to earn the victory, while sophomore lefty Adam Elliott had three strikeouts in two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Sophomore righthander Austin Dickey chipped in with one inning of scoreless relief.
Adam's A's were led by freshman catcher Zach Britton, who was 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a walk, while junior outfielder Josh Stowers finished 2-of-4 with a walk, two stolen bases and one run scored. On the mound, freshman Reid Detmers was impressive in the starting role as the lefthander had eight strikeouts without allowing a hit in four shutout innings.
The Pizza Bowl will continue with game two on Thursday at 3 p.m., ET as junior righthander Bryan Hoeing takes the mound for Tiberi's Tigers against junior righty Liam Jenkins for Adam's A's. The teams will have off days on Friday and Saturday before competing in game three on Sunday at 7 p.m., ET.
PIZZA BOWL ROSTERS
The two teams in this year's Pizza Bowl series will be guided by assistant coach Adam Vrable and former Louisville infielder Blake Tiberi, a student assistant this fall and a player in the New York Mets organization. Adam's A's includes Connor Adams, Sam Bordner, Zach Britton, Austin Conway, Stewart Currie, Reid Detmers, Lucas Dunn, Liam Jenkins, Michael Kirian, Justin Lavey, Trey Leonard, Rabon Martin, Matthew McCarty, Pat Rumoro, Jake Snider, Josh Stowers, Ethan Stringer, Riley Thompson, Mac Welsh and Logan Wyatt. Tiberi's Tigers features Ben Bianco, Drew Campbell, Austin Dickey, Adam Elliott, Daniel Fischer, Tyler Fitzgerald, Brody Heil, Bryan Hoeing, Thomas Josten, Devin Mann, Cameron Masterman, Bobby Miller, J.D. Mundt, Danny Oriente, Zeke Pinkham, Phillip Sanderson, Shay Smiddy, Gavin Sullivan, Hunter Sullivan and Adam Wolf.
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 creates 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
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter (@UofLBaseball) at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.
