Pirates in baseball: Carter Cunnigham homers twice, Carter Spivey gets win

by | May 9, 2025

It was a big night Thursday for two former ECU baseball alumni.

Carter Cunningham hit two home runs for the Vancouver Canadians and Carter Spivey got his first win at Double-A for the Akron Rubber Ducks.

Carter Cunningham

He batted 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in a 5-1 win by Vancouver over Spokane.

He hit his first homer in the sixth inning, a solo blast, to give Vancouver the lead for good at 2-1. He singled and scored in the seventh, then hit his second solo homer in the top of the ninth. It was his third homer of the season.

He raised his batting average to .241 with his best showing at the plate this season.

Unfortunately, there’s no video of either homer.

Carter Spivey

East Carolina baseball alum Carter Spivey has had an up-and-down season, literally. He got some good news again on Thursday.

Spivey picked up his first win of the season in relief work in his first game back with the Akron Rubber Ducks in a 5-0 win over the Somerset Patriots. He had pitched previously with the Columbus Clippers in Triple-A before being sent down to Akron in Double-A. It was the second time he had been called up to Columbus this season.

Spivey, now 1-0, took the mound with Akron leading 2-1. He relieved starter Rodney Boone in the fifth inning and pitched 2.2 innings of relief to finish out the seventh inning. Spivey gave up no hits and struck out three to lower his ERA to 3.60 on the season.

Josh Moylan

He was 0-for-3 at the plate but drove in two runs and drew two walks in a 12-1 win for Hudson Valley over Wilmington.

He drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning that drove in a run and gave the Renegades a 2-0 lead. He walked again in the fifth and had a sacrifice fly in the eighth that drove in another run for a 7-1 lead.

See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Thursday.

Major League Baseball

  • Connor Norby, Miami Marlins: Off on Thursday. Will play at White Sox on Friday.
  • Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals: Off on Thursday. Will play at Nationals on Friday.
  • Shawn Armstrong, Texas Rangers: Did not pitch in 5-0 loss to Red Sox
  • Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians: Off on Thursday. Will pitch against Phillies on Friday.
  • Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays: Did not pitch in 8-5 win over Angels.
  • Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies: Did not pitch in doubleheader loss to Tigers, 11-1 and 10-2
  • Clayton McCullough, Miami Marlins (manager): Off on Thursday. Will play at White Sox on Friday.

Triple-A

  • Carson Whisenhunt, Sacramento RiverCats (San Francisco Giants): Did not pitch in 7-5 loss to Tacoma

Double-A

  • Carter Spivey, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): See above
  • Trey Benton, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): On season-ending disabled list

Single-A

  • Trey Yesavage, Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays): Did not pitch in 5-4 win over Fort Myers
  • Carter Cunningham, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays): See above
  • Josh Moylan, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): See above
  • Josh Grosz, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Did not pitch in an 12-1 win over Wilmington
  • Tyler Bradt, Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals): Did not pitch in 3-2 loss to Wisconsin.
  • Jacob-Jenkins-Cowart, Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins): Was 2-for-5 with a RBI in a 4-2 loss to Palm Beach. He doubled in a run in the third inning for a 1-0 lead. It was his 16th RBI of the season. He reached on an error in the fifth to score a run and tie the game at 2-2. He then singled in the eighth.
  • Ryan McCrystal, Daytona Tortugas (Reds): Was 1-for-3 in a 6-3 loss to Tampa.
  • Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Modesto Nuts (Mariners): Placed on full-season disabled list on April 15.
  • Erik Ritchie, Clearwater Threshers (Phillies): Did not pitch in an 11-6 win over St. Lucie.

Frontier League

  • Danny Beal, Down East Bird Dawgs (Independent): Season begins on Friday 

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