Jake Hunter

Height:
6-4
Weight:
230
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Rockwell
High School:
East Rowan
Major:
Exercise Physiology

· Ranked No. 39 on 2025 Top 75 Seniors List (Perfect Game)
· 2023-24 SAAC Representative (Community Service Officer)

2024: Appeared in 14 games with six starts before suffering a season-ending injury in late April … Compiled a 3-2 record with a 4.05 earned run average, 37 strikeouts and 16 walks in 40.0 innings of work … Limited opposing hitters to a .217 batting average … Tossed 17.2 innings in American Athletic Conference play, putting together a 2-1 record with a 3.06 ERA and 11 strikeouts as well as a .210 opposing batting average … Tallied a season-high six strikeouts in his first two outings of the season – wins over Rider (Feb. 18) and North Carolina (Feb. 15) … Collected victories over Rider (Feb. 18), Florida Atlantic (April 7) and Memphis (April 28) while posting a save against UAB (March 29) … East Carolina emerged victorious in 11 of 14 games in which he pitched … Logged five strikeouts versus both Liberty (March 10) and William & Mary (April 16).

2023: Appeared in 22 games with four starts ... Compiled a 4-2 record with a 4.71 earned run average and 51 strikeouts against 13 walks in 42.0 innings of work ... Limited opposing hitters to a .224 batting average ... Pitched in six American Athletic Conference contests, putting together a 2-0 record with a 3.97 ERA, 14 strikeouts and two walks in 11.1 frames ... Notched multiple strikeouts in 10 games ... Recorded wins over Missouri State (March 18), NC State (April 4), Tulane (April 29) and Cincinnati (May 5) ... Notched his first career save at South Florida (May 19), retiring the final batter of the contest via a strikeout to preserve East Carolina’s 6-5 victory ... The Pirates were 12-10 when he pitched in a game ... Turned in a season-long outing of 4.1 innings in ECU’s 13-9 win over NC State, allowing just two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and no walks ... Registered a campaign-high six strikeouts in a solid 3.2-inning start at Elon (March 8) ... Produced 1.2 scoreless frames in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional opener against Oklahoma (June 2) as the Pirates cruised to a 14-5 victory over the Sooners in the teams’ first-ever meeting on the diamond ... Started contests versus Elon, UNCW (March 14 and 28) and South Florida (May 23) ... 2023 Summer: Suited up for the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League ... Earned all-league second team honors ... Finished seventh in the league with 40 strikeouts while tying for first in wins (five) ... Led Newport starters with a 0.93 ERA across 29 innings of work ... Finished the regular season on a tear, pitching a five inning shutout along with seven strikeouts against the Mystic Schooners (July 26) followed by an 11-strikeout performance in which he allowed just one run across seven innings in a playoff series-clinching 7-1 victory over the Ocean State Waves (August 2).

2022: Appeared in 18 games with 12 starts … Compiled a 1-2 record with a 5.18 earned run average and 43 strikeouts against seven walks in 41.2 innings of work … Limited opposing hitters to a .264 batting average … Pitched in eight American Athletic Conference contests with six starts with a 1-1 record, 3.86 ERA and 23 strikeouts against two walks in 21 frames … Posted a team-best 6.1 strikeout to walk ratio … Notched multiple strikeouts in 14 contests … Collected his first collegiate victory in ECU’s 10-1 triumph at UCF (April 16) … The Pirates were 9-3 when he pitched in a game … Combined with three other pitchers to shut out North Carolina (Feb. 27) ... Struck out a career-high seven batters in his longest outing of the season – 5.1 innings in East Carolina’s 6-2 win over South Florida (May 15) … Started contests against Bryant (Feb. 20), North Carolina (Feb. 27), Maryland (March 6), Saint Mary’s (March 13), College of Charleston (March 20), UCF (April 16), Tulane (April 24/May 28), Cincinnati (May 1), Memphis (May 8), South Florida (May 15) and Houston (May 21) … Registered four strikeouts versus Wichita State (April 9) and Tulane (April 24).

East Rowan High School: Two-sport athlete who earned five letters (baseball 4, basketball 1) … Played under coaches Brian Hightower and Brett Hatley helping the Mustangs to 54 wins over three-plus seasons … One-time team captain … Posted an 13-5 record with 222 strikeouts in 149 prep innings … Three-time all-county selection (two first-team picks) … As a freshman posted a 3-2 record with 44 strikeouts and 11 walks in 37 innings … Batted .229 (8-for-35) with a home run and six RBI … Scored four runs and laced three doubles … Followed initial season with the Mustangs going 6-1 with 102 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 66 innings … Posted a county-low 0.32 ERA on his way to North Piedmont Conference (NPC) Pitcher-of-the-Year and all-conference honors … Threw a no-hitter in the 3A N.C. State playoffs against Tuscola … In that contest, he threw 71 of his 93 pitches for strikes with a walk and a hit batter … Twirled a four-hit shutout against West Stanley … As a junior pitched in three games before season was cut short due to COVID-19 Pandemic … Posted a 1-0 record with one save … Struck out 11 batters while walking four in 8.2 innings … Closed out career with a 3-2 ledger where he struck out 65 batters in 38 innings for a 2.57 ERA … Member of the 2021 NPC 3A regular season and tournament championship squad … Played travel ball for the South Charlotte Panthers … Rated as the second-best right-hander and sixth overall prospect in North Carolina by Perfect Game … Tabbed a Top 300 overall prospect (No. 269) and the 94th-best righty nationally by Perfect Game … Listed as the 15th-best prospect in North Carolina by Impact Baseball … Named Preseason Underclass All-American Second-Team All-Atlantic Region by Perfect Game … 2021 Preseason All-Atlantic Region First-Team selection … Participated in several showcase events including 2017 PG Super25 13U North Carolina Super Qualifier (Pineville, N.C.), 2018 PG Super25 15U/2021 Grads North Carolina Super Qualifier (High Point, N.C.), 2018 WWBA 2020 Grads/16U National Championship (Cartersville, Ga.), 2018 WWBA 2021 Grads/15U National Championship (Cartersville, Ga.), 2018 14U Perfect Game World Series (Cartersville, Ga.), 2018 Atlantic Coast Prospect Showcase (Marion, N.C.), 2018 WWBA Underclass World Championship (Fort Myers, Fla.), 2019 WWBA 2021 Grads/16U National Championship (Cartersville, Ga.), 2019 WWBA 2022 Grads/15U National Championship (Cartersville, Ga.), 2019 PG 16U World Series (Sanford, Fla.), 2019 WWBA World Championship (Jupiter, Fla.), 2020 PG 17U National Elite Championship (Hoover, Ala.), 2020 PG 16U Southeast World Series (Marietta, Ga.), 2020 17U BCS National Championship (Fort Myers, Fla.), 2020 WWBA 2022 Grads/16U National Championship (Marietta, Ga.), 2020 WWBA 2021 Grads/17U National Championship (Marietta, Ga.), 2020 PG 16U World Series (Sanford, Fla.), 2020 PGBA Battle of the Upstate (Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C.), 2020 WWBA Upperclass Coastal Fall Championship (High Point, N.C.), 2020 PGBA Western NC Championship (Marion, N.C.) and 2020 WWBA World Championship (Fort Myers, Fla.) … Named to 10 all-tournament teams in Perfect Game events … Earned Tourney All-American Team honors for 2020 17U … Named to the Tournament Elite Pitching squad for the South Charlotte Panthers at the 2020 WWBA World Championships.

Personal: Full name is Jake Henry Hunter … Born in Salisbury, N.C. … Son of Dawn and Jonathan Hunter … Has one sibling (Madison) … Graduated high school with honors and a 4.39 GPA … Received Citizenship Award … Junior Marshall … Sister played four years of softball (pitcher) at Catawba College … Six-time ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll (Fall 2021-present) member … Named to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 American Athletic Conference All-Academic Teams.