East Carolina University’s baseball team (27-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) welcomes Wichita State University (21-16, 7-5 AAC) on Friday through Sunday to Clark-LeClair Stadium for what is a tight matchup in the AAC standings.
ECU sits second in the AAC after four weeks of play, just one game back of University of Texas at San Antonio (21-15, 9-3 AAC) in first. Wichita State, meanwhile, is tied for third place, coming off of a series win at Florida Atlantic University (19-14, 6-6 AAC).
The Pirates are coming off a 5-1 week, picking up a series win over Charlotte and two midweek wins against non conference opponents. It was a stellar week overall for the pitching staff, who came together to throw two combined no-hitters in their mercy rule wins over Charlotte and Elon.
Junior righthander Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman continues his outstanding season, picking up 65 strikeouts through 39 innings. He’s given up only four earned runs and currently leads the nation with a 0.94 ERA.
ECU swept the conference’s weekly awards, with junior outfielder Ryley Johnson and junior righthander Trey Yesavage being named the Player and Pitcher of the week.
Yesavage received the accolade for the second-straight week after going six shutout innings with 12 strikeouts, allowing no hits on the way to the team’s second mercy rule no-hitter in three games. Johnson received the award for the first time in his career after going 8-15 through five games, picking up two doubles, a triple, two home runs, five walks, and six RBI.
Johnson isn’t the only batter that’s been on a hot streak for the Pirates. Senior Carter Cunningham is also having a stellar season of his own, leading the team in most offensive categories. He leads the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and RBI.
ECU will finish up their four-game home stand on April 23 as they host in-state rival NC State (20-13, 10-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) for a ranked matchup. First pitch is set for 6 PM from Clark-LeClair Stadium.
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