Pirate baseball opens up conference play at UTSA

East Carolina University (15-4, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) kicks off conference play March 22 through 24,heading down to the Lone Star State to take on the University of Texas at San-Antonio (10-10, 0-0 AAC).

The Pirates and the Roadrunners don’t have much experience facing off against each other in baseball. Their only meetings were back in May of 2014, when both were still members of Conference USA. The squads split four games 2-2, with the Pirates taking two out of three in the weekend series, and UTSA taking a game in the conference tournament.

ECU has ruled the AAC with a bit of an iron fist for the past several seasons, securing their fourth consecutive regular season title in 2023. Though they would drop the conference tournament in 2023, they kept their postseason streak alive, heading to the Charlottesville Regional, where they’d ultimately fall to host Virginia.

They’ll look to keep that trend going this season in a conference that looks quite a bit different than last year. So far, they’ve been successful in that endeavor. Through the 19 games played by ECU, they sit with a record of 15-4, which is the best record in the conference thus far heading into conference play.

Carter Cunningham has been by far the best offensive player for the Pirates so far this year, leading the team in most offensive categories. His .455 average leads the conference, as does his .792 slugging percentage and his 1.331 OPS. Cunningham also currently leads the conference in runs scored, hits, and RBI. He’s second in the conference in on-base percentage, and his 35 hits rank among the most in the country.

Cunningham is riding a 19 game hit streak, which is the longest hit streak for a Pirate since 2021, when current Orioles prospect Connor Norby put together a 20 game stretch.

Sophomore outfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart follows him with a .373 average, tallying 31 hits and an OPS of 1.019.

The pitching staff has been excellent through five weeks. As a team, the Pirates rank in the top 15 nationally in earned run average. ECU is second in the country in WHIP. They’re among the top ten teams in NCAA in terms of strikeouts per nine, strikeout to walk ratio, and hits allowed per nine innings.

Junior righty Trey Yesavage, the longtime Friday night starter, leads the conference with a 1.20 ERA. Sophomore lefty Zach Root has slots second in the conference with a 1.21 ERA, and junior righty Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman sits third with his own 1.37 ERA.

So, two out of three pitchers in the starting rotation, and one of the Pirates’ best relievers sit top three in the American in terms of ERA.

Yesavage is tied for fifth in the country in strikeouts and sits tied for third nationally in hits allowed per game. He and Root also each rank within the top ten in the country in WHIP.

Junior righty Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman is third in the country in strikeouts per nine innings, with 40 strikeouts through 19.2 innings. He’s been a solid, reliable arm out of the bullpen, and he’s a pivotal piece of the success ECU has had thus far.

Through 18 games this season, the Pirates have yet to drop a weekend series. They’ve got three series sweeps, over Rider, Liberty, and Columbia. They look like they’re building up more momentum with every win, and they’ll land in Texas ready to take down the Roadrunners.

ECU’s conference play will commence this weekend, with first pitch from Roadrunner Field set for 7 PM eastern on Friday.