Two East Carolina baseball alumni got to pitch in Friday’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. But it’s not exactly what you think.
WATCH: @ECUBaseball alum @alecburleson9 got to pitch for the Cardinals in an 11-1 loss to the Rangers. He pitched the ninth inning, hit a batter with a 50 mph pitch and gave up a hit. That’s it, so his ERA is 0.00.
📹 St. Louis Cardinals pic.twitter.com/mIHNYzXsbX— Pirate Radio ☠️ (@PR927FM) May 31, 2025
Shawn Armstrong got one out in the sixth inning to preserve an 11-1 win by the Rangers over the Cardinals. He dropped his ERA to 3.91 by forcing Iván Herrera to pop out in foul territory for the last out.
Armstrong was replaced in the seventh before Alec Burleson came to bat for the Cardinals. However, the highlight of the night came when Burleson got to pitch in the ninth inning.
Burleson came on in the ninth inning and hit the first batter he faced with a 50 mph pitch. It was a humorous moment before he gave up a hit and recorded three outs to end the top of the ninth.
He didn’t get a save or anything like that, but he did keep his ERA at 0.00. He also went 0-for-4 at the plate while playing right field and first base.
Carson Whisenhunt
Carson Whisenhunt (Sacramento River Cats photo)
He improved to 6-3 on the season with five solid innings of pitching in a 5-3 win over El Paso.
He gave up three runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts. His one blemish was giving up a two-run homer to cut the River Cats’ lead to 4-3. He also had a wild pitch.
Sacramento scored three times in the fourth inning to take a 4-1 lead.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart
He had his best outing with Beloit in an 11-3 win over Lansing.
Playing in right field, he was 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBI and two walks. He singled in the third and hit his second double since joining the team in the fourth. That drove in two runs for a 4-2 lead. He later scored to give Beloit a 6-2 lead.
He also walked and scored in the sixth and seventh innings.
See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Friday.
Major League Baseball
- Connor Norby, Miami Marlins: 1-for-4 in 2-0 loss to Giants
- Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals: See above
- Shawn Armstrong, Texas Rangers: See above
- Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians: Did not pitch in 4-1 loss to Angels
- Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays: Did not pitch in 11-7 win over A’s
- Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies: Did not pitch in 4-2 loss to Mets
- Clayton McCullough, Miami Marlins (manager): Team lost 20 to drop to 22-33 for the season
Triple-A
- Carson Whisenhunt, Sacramento RiverCats (Giants): See above
Double-A
- Carter Spivey, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): Did not pitch in 8-7 win over Somerset
- Trey Benton, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): On season-ending disabled list
Single-A
- Trey Yesavage, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays): Did not pitch in 8-1 win over Hillsboro. Scheduled to pitch vs. Hillsboro on Saturday at 4:05 p.m.
- Carter Cunningham, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays): 0-for-3 with a walk in 8-1 win over Hillsboro
- Josh Moylan, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Did not play in 4-0 loss to Wilmington.
- Josh Grosz, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Fell to 3-3 after 4-0 loss to Wilmington. He pitched seven innings, gave up four runs on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk. His ERA is now 3.86.
- Tyler Bradt, Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals): Did not pitch in 10-1 loss to Wisconsin
- Jacob-Jenkins-Cowart, Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins): See above
- Ryan McCrystal, Daytona Tortugas (Reds): Was 1-for-4 with a home run in the fourth inning in 6-3 win over Jupiter. His homer was his second of the season and gave Daytona the lead for good at 3-2.
- Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Modesto Nuts (Mariners): Placed on full-season disabled list on April 15.
- Erik Ritchie, FCL Phillies (Phillies): Reassigned to the Florida Coast League Phillies. Did not pitch in 10-7 loss to FCL Blue Jays.
- Landon Ginn, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs): Canceled game vs. Augusta due to rain. No makeup date announced.
Frontier League
- Danny Beal, Down East Bird Dawgs (Independent): Did not pitch vs. New York Boulders in 7-6 win.
Photo credit: Carson Whisenhunt (Sacramento River Cats photo)
Check out Pirate Radio
Website | Facebook | X (formerly Twitter) | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify