East Carolina Sweeps AAC Baseball Weekly Honors
February 26, 2024 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Following East Carolina's series victory over No. 15 North Carolina this past weekend, senior infielder Carter Cunningham and sophomore LHP Zach Root have been tabbed the American Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week respectively.
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The accolades mark the first in both players' careers and the sixth time the Pirates have captured both awards in a single week since joining the league prior to the 2015 campaign.
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Cunningham hit .471 (8-for-17) in four games with six runs scored, five RBI, two doubles and a home run while producing a .765 slugging percentage and .526 on base percentage to account for a 1.291 OPS. He tallied a hit and drove in two runs at Campbell Tuesday before going 2-for-4 with a run scored against the Tar Heels Friday in Chapel Hill. Cunningham notched four hits in four at bats in ECU's 7-4 win over North Carolina in Fayetteville Saturday, adding three runs scored and an RBI. He polished off the weekend with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI in the 10-9 series clinching walkoff victory.
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Root was masterful in Saturday's win, tossing a career-high seven scoreless innings while matching his career high with seven strikeouts against no walks. He scattered three hits and retired the first nine batters he faced in the contest as well as faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings. Root currently stands at 2-0 this season with a 0.00 earned run average and 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work. He is limiting opposing hitters to a .150 batting average and has not surrendered an extra base hit.
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East Carolina heads a few hours north Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with Old Dominion at Bud Matheny Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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American Athletic Conference Baseball Weekly Honors – February 26
Player of the Week
Carter Cunningham, Sr., INF, East Carolina
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Pitcher of the Week
Zach Root, So., East Carolina
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Honor Roll
Brandon Stahlman, Sr., INF, Charlotte
Christian Adams, Sr., INF, Florida Atlantic
Brennan DuBose, Sr., C, Memphis
J.D. McCracken, Jr., P, Rice
Rafael Betancourt, So., UTL, South Florida
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The accolades mark the first in both players' careers and the sixth time the Pirates have captured both awards in a single week since joining the league prior to the 2015 campaign.
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Cunningham hit .471 (8-for-17) in four games with six runs scored, five RBI, two doubles and a home run while producing a .765 slugging percentage and .526 on base percentage to account for a 1.291 OPS. He tallied a hit and drove in two runs at Campbell Tuesday before going 2-for-4 with a run scored against the Tar Heels Friday in Chapel Hill. Cunningham notched four hits in four at bats in ECU's 7-4 win over North Carolina in Fayetteville Saturday, adding three runs scored and an RBI. He polished off the weekend with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI in the 10-9 series clinching walkoff victory.
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Root was masterful in Saturday's win, tossing a career-high seven scoreless innings while matching his career high with seven strikeouts against no walks. He scattered three hits and retired the first nine batters he faced in the contest as well as faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings. Root currently stands at 2-0 this season with a 0.00 earned run average and 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work. He is limiting opposing hitters to a .150 batting average and has not surrendered an extra base hit.
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East Carolina heads a few hours north Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with Old Dominion at Bud Matheny Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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American Athletic Conference Baseball Weekly Honors – February 26
Player of the Week
Carter Cunningham, Sr., INF, East Carolina
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Pitcher of the Week
Zach Root, So., East Carolina
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Honor Roll
Brandon Stahlman, Sr., INF, Charlotte
Christian Adams, Sr., INF, Florida Atlantic
Brennan DuBose, Sr., C, Memphis
J.D. McCracken, Jr., P, Rice
Rafael Betancourt, So., UTL, South Florida
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