Cheese's Chosen Evens Pizza Bowl Series with 7-0 Win
Decisive third game scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m., ET at Jim Patterson Stadium
 
Junior RHP Jeff Thompson


Junior RHP Jeff Thompson

Oct. 12, 2012

2012 Pizza Bowl Series - Game Two Photo Gallery

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Facing a must-win situation, Cheese's Chosen rose to the occasion on Friday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium with a 7-0 victory over Tingle's Titanium to even the seventh annual Pizza Bowl series at one game each.

The series, which completes the Cardinals' fall workouts, will conclude on Saturday at 1 p.m., ET with a decisive third game. Junior right-hander Dace Kime (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS) is scheduled to start for the Titanium against sophomore righty Joe Ceja (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette Academy) of the Chosen.

A pair of talented junior right-handers dominated the first half of Friday's scrimmage as starters Jeff Thompson (Greenville, Ind./Floyd Central HS) and Chad Green (Effingham, Ill./Effingham HS) combined to hold the two squads without a run through the first five innings. Thompson finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just two hits in his five innings of shutout work to earn the win for the Chosen, while Green had a pair of strikeouts and did not allow a hit before departing at the end of the fifth inning with a no-decision for the Titanium.

Following Thompson's departure after the fifth inning, junior left-hander Cody Ege (Cherokee, Iowa/Washington HS) provided three innings of shutout relief while allowing just two hits with three strikeouts before freshman righty Jonah Philley (Louisville, Ky./Eastern HS) finished with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning to close out the win.

Offensively for the Chosen, junior outfielder Adam Engel (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) was 2-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored, while sophomore infielder Zach Lucas (Louisville, Ky./Butler HS) was 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in the win. Freshman infielder Jordan Striegel (Sellersburg, Ind./New Albany HS) added three walks, an RBI and a run scored for the Chosen. For the Titanium, junior infielder Ty Young (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) led the way going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in the loss.

About Louisville Baseball
Louisville, which won its third BIG EAST regular season title in the last four seasons in 2012, is led by the return of seven of its school record 10 All-BIG EAST performers from last season, including second team outfielders Adam Engel and Cole Sturgeon. Most of the Cardinals' pitching staff returns for 2013, led by BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-American right-hander Jared Ruxer. Overall, Louisville returns 21 letterwinners from the 2012 team, which finished 41-22 and advanced to an NCAA Regional for the fifth time in six seasons.

Head coach Dan McDonnell enters his seventh season leading the Louisville baseball program. In his six previous seasons, McDonnell is 258-122 with three BIG EAST regular-season titles, two BIG EAST Tournament titles, five NCAA Regional berths, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and one College World Series berth.

Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.

 

 

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