Adam’s A’s Clinch Pizza Bowl with Game Four Win
October 17, 2017 | Baseball
Stringer, Stowers lead the way for the A’s with two RBIs each in Monday’s victory
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore outfielder Ethan Stringer and junior outfielder Josh Stowers had two RBIs each as Adam's A's clinched the 2017 Pizza Bowl championship with Monday afternoon's 11-5 victory over Tiberi's Tigers in game four at Jim Patterson Stadium.
After dropping game one last Wednesday, Adam's A's won each of the next three games to claim the best-of-five series. Stringer delivered a two-run single, was hit by a pitch and singled in his final three plate appearances, while Stowers was hit by a pitch and connected for a two-out, two-run single in the win. Sophomore infielder Justin Lavey chipped in with a single, one walk and scored twice. Freshman lefthander Connor Adams twirled two innings of shutout relief to register the victory for the A's, while graduate student Austin Conway had two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning.
Junior infielder Devin Mann led the way for the Tigers connecting for a double, earning two walks and scoring three runs, while junior catcher Zeke Pinkham singled, walked and scored once. On the mound, freshman righthander Bobby Miller finished with three strikeouts in two perfect innings out of the bullpen.
Monday's game completed fall workouts for the Louisville baseball team, which will resume full-squad preparations for the 2018 season on Jan. 26. The opening weekend of college baseball in 2018 is set for Feb. 16-18, while Louisville's complete 2018 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 infielder Blake Tiberi, a student assistant this fall and a player in the New York Mets organization. Adam's A's included 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 featured 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.
