ST. LOUIS, Missouri --- Former University of Mount Olive baseball player Kodi Whitley made his Major League debut Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd of cardboard cutouts, Cardinals teammates, and a few heckling Pirates. 

Whitley, a Clayton, N.C. native, came into the contest with the Redbirds down 4-1 in the top of the seventh and recorded his first out with Jacobs Stallings grounding out to short. He then got Erik Gonzalez to line out to center for the second out of the inning. Lastly, the righty got Adam Frazier swinging a 94.1 MPH four-seam fastball on a 1-2 count to not only record the final out but his first major league strikeout, on his way to setting the Pirates down in order.

"It's hard to put into words," Whitley said via mlb.com. "You imagine it, you dream about it, and then it happens, and it's such a surreal moment and something I'll never forget."

The Cardinals went onto drop the series finale 5-1, but took the three-game series 2-1. 

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