FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Florida State shortstop Stephen Cardullo has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week, while North Carolina’s Brian Moran has been named the league’s Pitcher of the Week.
Cardullo led FSU to a 5-0 week, including three wins at Maryland for the Seminoles first conference sweep of the season. The Coral Springs, Fla., junior hit .500 (11-for-22) recording multiple hits in the final four games, while recording at least one run and an RBI in all five games.
Cardullo ended the weekend on a high note going 3-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high six RBI in the series finale against Maryland. He finished the game with a career-high four runs scored. Sunday’s game marked Cardullo’s first career multi-home run game, including his first career grand slam in the top of the seventh.
Cardullo batted .571 with eight hits in 14 at-bats vs. Maryland. He recorded three home runs, drove in eight and scored seven times en route to slugging a team-high 1.214. Earlier vs. Florida Gulf Coast, Cardullo capped an eight-run fifth inning, blasting a three-run shot off the scoreboard in left field. He then singled in the eighth to break a 9-9 tie and eventually brought home the game-winner on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Cardullo is currently riding an errorless streak spanning eight consecutive games (25 chances) and owns a career-high 10-game hit streak.
North Carolina’s Moran was dominant in four relief appearances with 16 strikeouts and no walks over 10 1/3 innings. The Rye, N.Y., native allowed just two runs for a 1.74 ERA and earned two victories.
Despite not picking up the win in Sunday’s series-clincher against No. 8 Virginia, Moran had arguably his finest outing as a Tar Heel with career highs of 6 1/3 innings and eight strikeouts out of the bullpen. He entered with the bases loaded in the third, worked out of the jam and kept the Cavaliers off the scoreboard over the next five innings. He allowed just two runs, and the Tar Heels rallied for the win in the ninth.
Earlier in the week, the lefty beat No. 26 UNC Wilmington for the second time in his career with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed over 2 1/3 frames Tuesday. Moran struck out all five batters he faced, stranding three runners in the process, over his next two outings against Charlotte (Wednesday) and vs. No. 8 Virginia (Friday). He earned the win in the opener against the Cavaliers. On the season, Moran has a remarkable 42-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio and leads the Tar Heels with a 2.37 ERA over 30 1/3 innings.
