NC State baseball preview: Pitching to be the team's strength in 2025

By Noah Fleischman

For the first time in the last six years, NC State’s pitching staff will not lean on either Sam Highfill or Logan Whitaker. Those two arms epitomized what the Wolfpack wanted to do on the mound during their tenure in Raleigh, but both are in MLB organizations going into the 2025 campaign. 

So, where does NC State’s pitching staff stand going into another season as it attempts to make its third trip to the Men’s College World Series in a five-season span? The Pack will rely on a mix of experienced veterans and battle-tested underclassmen to propel the team through the spring.

While Highfill and Whitaker are gone, NC State returns a key group of pitchers that will make up the Wolfpack’s strength of the team. Graduate right-hander Matt Willadsen and junior lefty Dominic Fritton are a pair of often-used veterans, while the Pack’s young bullpen arms of junior Derrick Smith and sophomores Cooper Consiglio and Jacob Dudan are back to build off a breakout 2024 campaign. 

For NC State pitching coach Clint Chrysler, this staff brings a unique combination of experience and talent to the table. The Wolfpack will be able to deploy different pitchers for nearly every situation, including varying arm angles and slots, which makes Chrysler feel he has a “well-rounded group.”

Chrysler is well aware of the expectations of his group, which might be tasked with carrying the load in tight ballgames, but he wouldn’t want it any other way. 

“I think we have a nice mix of old and new. We have a nice mix of stuff and pitchability,” Chrysler told TheWolfpacker.com. “It’s up to our guys, it’s up to Coach [Elliott] Avent and myself to manage these guys properly. You don’t ever really know until the real bullets start flying. … It’s a constant battle to figure out those roles. What your roles are in February might not be your roles in May. But I do like the personnel.”

Here’s a look at NC State’s pitching staff as the Wolfpack enters the 2025 season. 

Dominic Fritton looking to rebound

Through his first two seasons in Raleigh, Fritton has seen both sides of success and struggles. 

As a freshman, he was among the best young starters in the country with a team-best 3.59 ERA with 75 strikeouts (just 24 walks) in 62.2 innings and opposing hitters logged just a .211 batting average against him. Fritton, who posted a 10-strikeout performance against Florida State in his first Friday night start of his career, was a Freshman All-American in all four major postseason teams in the process.

But when he returned for his sophomore campaign, Fritton had a rollercoaster of a season. He held a 7.64 ERA through 17 starts as he logged 72 strikeouts with a career-most 47 walks in 73 total innings. 

Fritton, a draft-eligible sophomore, was determined to leave his second season with the Wolfpack in the rearview mirror as he came back for his third season at NC State. 

“Dom is just a rock,” Chrysler said. “He’ll be the first one to tell you that he was not pleased with the year he had last year — at all. To Dom’s credit, he took very little time off after the World Series. He came home and got back to work.”

Fritton’s drive to improve seems to have helped him make strides on the mound going into the 2025 season. He is looking to be the Wolfpack’s Friday night starter this spring after he served as the team’s Saturday starter as a sophomore. It’s a competition (more on that below), but Chrysler seems excited to see the progress that Fritton has made to set himself up for a successful season as one of the Pack’s key starters moving forward. 

“I expect him to be back to his freshman year [version], but only better,” Chrysler said. “I think he’s bigger and stronger. I think his breaking ball is better. I think his changeup is better. I expect Dom to have a very, very good year for us.”

Who to keep an eye on

While Fritton is a known commodity within the Wolfpack’s pitching staff, there are several arms on the roster that have a chance to break through this season. The Wolfpack, which believes its pitching staff is deeper than last season, has a number of candidates looking to make an impact in 2025. 

So who should you keep an eye on this season? Sophomore right-handers Heath Andrews and Camden Wimbish, junior righty Landon Carr and senior right-hander Carson Kelly are all emerging as key arms for the Wolfpack this spring. 

Andrews was rarely used in his collegiate debut season with just 9.1 total innings pitched across 10 appearances (one start). While he wasn’t used in bunches, Andrews flashed his potential out of the bullpen, including a career-high 2.1 innings in the Wolfpack’s 9-8 comeback win over Duke on March 23, 2024. 

The Fincastle, Va., native showed signs of growth over the summer with a 4.08 ERA, 16 strikeouts and just five walks as a starter for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod League. 

Now, Andrews is competing for a starting spot in the Pack’s rotation as he’s “settled into what we hoped he would be,” Chrysler said. 

“That guy just goes about his business the same way every day. His body language, his poise is much like Sam Highfill,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said of Andrews. “I’d equate those two guys a lot alike … you’d never know if it’s a good day or a bad day.” 

While Andrews has a chance to be a starter this season, Wimbish appears to be setting up as a high-leverage arm. He could fill a similar role as Dudan, who was a lights-out setup man last season and is expected to push for a starting spot this season. 

Wimbish possesses power stuff, similar to that of Dudan, even though he pitched just 3.2 innings with 4 strikeouts, 3 walks and a 9.82 ERA in five appearances as a freshman. If Dudan makes a move to the starting rotation at some point in the season, Wimbish’s ability to be a shutdown reliever will be imperative for NC State’s success. 

Carr, meanwhile, is an interesting candidate to do a little bit of everything after he transferred in from Gaston Community College. He was used as both a starter and late-inning pitcher over his two seasons there, which included two complete games (with a shutout) last season.

NC State hasn’t nailed down how it wants to use Carr this spring, but his ability to go deep into games or to be a dominant reliever, gives the Wolfpack versatility within its bullpen (or as a starter, possibly in the midweek). 

“He throws a ton of strikes with a low-maintenance delivery,” Chrysler said. “He’s going to be a good addition for us.”

Rounding out the group is Kelly, a veteran of the Wolfpack’s pitching staff. He was heavily used out of the bullpen as a freshman in 2022, which included 32 strikeouts in 30 innings, but he combined to pitch just 28.2 innings over the last two seasons combined. 

Now, Kelly has reinvented himself as a sidearm pitcher exclusively coming out of the bullpen for NC State. The Wolfpack is excited to see him have the opportunity to be an impactful part of the staff, and the early returns from the fall and beginnings of spring practices has Kelly in line for a bigger role in 2025. 

Projected starting rotation and roles

There’s just under a month until NC State opens the season with a weekend series against Fordham, but let’s project the Wolfpack’s roles going into the season. The Pack doesn’t expect to have the same starting rotation at the beginning of the year as it will by the time the postseason begins, but it is excited about what it has at its disposal. 

“Right now, there’s still a lot of competition for what we’re trying to do,” Chrysler said. “We have six or seven guys that we feel like could be weekend starters for us. It’s just going to depend on how everything falls. Everyone wants to start.” 

“But we went to Omaha last year because of having Jacob, Derrick and Cooper in the back end of the bullpen. You’ve gotta be able to shorten games in college baseball.”

Starters:
Friday: Junior LHP Dominic Fritton
Saturday: Sophomore RHP Heath Andrews
Sunday: Sophomore LHP Ryan Marohn
Midweek: Junior RHP Andrew Shaffner OR sophomore LHP Cooper Consiglio

Fritton, as documented above, appears to be in the driver’s seat for the Friday night role. The Wolfpack is very high on Andrews, who held his own as a starter over the summer, while sophomore lefty Ryan Marohn is expected to return to a starting role. 

Marohn was the team’s Sunday starter to open the season before he was moved to the midweek to make room for Whitaker in the rotation. Marohn was also key out of the bullpen in the NCAA Tournament, including eating innings at Georgia in the Super Regional. 

The Chantilly, Va., native was 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA, 46 strikeouts and 25 walks across 59 total innings. He made 16 appearances with 10 starts. Look for Marohn to be a featured starter for the duration of the 2025 campaign. 

Bullpen:
Key arms: Landon Carr, Jacob Dudan, Jacob Dienes, Matt Willadsen, Camden Wimbish
Closer: Junior RHP Derrick Smith

Dudan, a D1Baseball Preseason All-America selection, was lights out as a freshman with 56 strikeouts in 48 innings as the team’s most-commonly used arm (27 appearances). He has worked on adding a third pitch to his arsenal, while his command has improved to bring down his walk total (34). While he could become a starter, Dudan appears to project to start the year in the bullpen. 

NC State is high on Dienes, who had a standout fall, while Willadsen is on track to be available out of the bullpen to start the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Willadsen was injured on the first day of practice last season and he attacked his rehab to be good to go moving into this spring. 

Smith, the team’s lockdown closer after his breakout sophomore season, is back in that role this spring. His devastating slider was nearly impossible to hit down the stretch, which was key in his ability to be successful. Smith posted a team-best eight saves in 24 appearances, including 41 strikeouts to just 11 walks with his 4.55 ERA. 

If the Wolfpack can get to the final three innings of a game with a lead, NC State will be in good shape. That was the reality by the end of the season last spring, and as all of the Pack’s young bullpen arms enter this season with more experience, NC State’s relievers are primed for a big season.

Injury updates

Even though NC State is excited about its pitching depth going into the 2025 season, the Wolfpack will start the year without two key pieces as junior right-hander Shane Van Dam and UNC-Greensboro transfer righty pitcher Julien Peissel recover from injuries. 

Van Dam, who underwent Tommy John surgery during the season after he posted 38 strikeouts in 37.1 innings out of the bullpen, is “working harder than he’s ever worked,” Avent said. The former SUNY Cortland transfer is on track with his rehab and could be back in the Wolfpack’s bullpen by mid to late-April.

NC State does not expect Peissel to play this season. He suffered an injury during fall practices and is not expected to be cleared until the end of the regular season. Once he is fully recovered, it will be up to Peissel to determine if he wants to use his eligibility if he could slot into a role in the bullpen. 

Peissel, who was expected to compete for a starting spot this spring, has two years of eligibility remaining, so he could elect to redshirt to maintain that going into the 2026 season. The Wolfpack is approaching the spring as if he will not be available, but he could see the field in May if everything goes according to his recovery plan.