East Carolina baseball alums Alec Burleson, Connor Norby and Carter Cunningham each had big games for their respective clubs in Friday’s baseball.
Alec Burleson
Burleson helped the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians. He was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
He reached on an error in the first inning, hit a two-run homer in the fifth and doubled and scored in the sixth.
Connor Norby and Clayton McCullough
Fourth two-out RBI of the game. Javier Sanoja with an RBI triple, driving in Connor Norby.#Marlins extend the lead, 6-4 pic.twitter.com/iJsPEOBsQL
— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) June 28, 2025
One day after being thrown out of the game with the San Francisco Giants, McCullough was back as the Miami Marlins’ manager, leading them to a 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Marlins are now 35-45 overall. Norby played a big part in the win, going 2-for-4 with two runs. He reached on an error and scored in the fifth inning. He also singled and scored in the sixth and doubled in the eighth.
Carter Cunningham
Cunningham? More like CLUTCHINGham 💥 pic.twitter.com/hCAFfce4SU
— Vancouver Canadians (@vancanadians) June 27, 2025
He hit a solo homer as part of a 2-for-3 night. It was his seventh homer of the season. He also scored a run and drove in another with a single in a 3-2 loss to Tri-City.
See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Friday.
Major League Baseball
- Connor Norby, Miami Marlins: See above
- Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals: See above
- Shawn Armstrong, Texas Rangers: Tagged with loss in Mariners’ 7-6 win in 12 innings. Pitched 12th, gave up a hit and a run to raise his ERA to 3.18. With one out, After the Rangers lost a challenge, a single by Seattle led to a run scored for the difference.
- Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians: Did not pitch in 5-0 loss to Cardinals
- Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays: Did not pitch in 9-0 win over Red Sox
- Clayton McCullough, Miami Marlins (manager): See above
Triple-A
- Carson Whisenhunt, Sacramento RiverCats (Giants): Did not pitch in 9-7 loss to Oklahoma City
- Zach Agnos, Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies): Did not pitch in 7-6 loss to Las Vegas
Double-A
- Trey Yesavage, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays): Did not pitch in 3-1 loss to Hartford
- Carter Spivey, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): On 7-day injured list with right shoulder strain (began June 12)
- Trey Benton, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): On season-ending disabled list
Single-A
- Carter Cunningham, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays):
- Josh Moylan, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Was 2-for-4 in 2-0 win over Wilmington in completion of suspended game. Also had a double. Was 1-for-3 in second game, 11-0 loss to Wilmington.
- Josh Grosz, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Did not pitch in either game, a 2-0 win over Wilmington and 11-0 loss.
- Tyler Bradt, Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals): Did not pitch in 6-3 win over Beloit.
- Jacob-Jenkins-Cowart, Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins): Did not pitch in 6-3 loss to Peoria.
- Ryan McCrystal, Daytona Tortugas (Reds): 0-for-3 in 9-5 win over Palm Beach
- Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Modesto Nuts (Mariners): Placed on full-season disabled list on April 15.
- Erik Ritchie, Clearwater Threshers (Phillies): Did not pitch in 1-0 loss to Lakeland
- Landon Ginn, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs): Did not pitch in 4-1 win over Myrtle Beach
Frontier League
- Danny Beal, Down East Bird Dawgs (Independent): Did not pitch in 11-4 win over Mississippi
Photo credit: Alec Burleson (AP photo)
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