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Wolfpack Gets the Best Version of Jacob Dudan Against Notre Dame

The usual Saturday pitcher stuck to his game plan and absolutely carved through the Fighting Irish for almost eight innings.
Tucker Sennett|
May 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack pitcher Jacob Dudan (41) starts off the seventh inning against the Duke Blue Devils during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
May 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack pitcher Jacob Dudan (41) starts off the seventh inning against the Duke Blue Devils during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

RALEIGH — All Jacob Dudan could do was watch as the NC State bullpen blew a four-run lead in the top of the ninth inning. While his 7.2 innings of one-run ball looked squandered in that brief moment, he never lost belief in his team as it went for a sweep of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday.

"I'm not really thinking too much about it, I've got confidence in every single one of the guys who came in," Dudan said. "Even when we gave up the lead, I had a feeling that we were going to walk it off because our hitters have been so great this week. I just had a lot of confidence that we were going to walk it off."

As it turned out, Dudan knew better than anyone else in the dugout. After two members of the Wolfpack made it to second and third with one out, sophomore outfielder Ty Head singled to right-center, bringing both runs home and securing the sweep for Dudan and the rest of the NC State group.

While it all came down to ninth-inning heroics, none of it would've been possible without the deep outing from Dudan.

Ultimate confidence in the starter

For NC State head coach Elliott Avent, watching Dudan brings back memories of former Wolfpack greats like Carlos Rodón and Mike Caldwell, who texted the coach about watching the talented right-handed junior work earlier in the year. The longtime skipper of the Pack feels like Dudan represents everything he wants his program to be. His performance on Saturday reflected that even more.

"He's such a winner and he's so dedicated and disciplined," Avent said. "An unbelievable person and wants to win for his ballclub. He was unbelievable because we squandered so many chances there... Jacob was unbelievable and he's been unbelievable all year."

Because of Easter Sunday and the seven-game skid that it entered the Notre Dame series riding, NC State did a reshuffling of its pitching staff to spell some of the bullpen arms in the Thursday and Saturday games. Avent and pitching coach Clint Chrysler opted to move Ryan Marohn up to Thursday to get a quality start and win, but held Dudan to his usual Saturday slot, needing a deeper outing from the powerful righty. He knew it too.

"That's always in the back of my mind, wanting to go deep," Dudan said. "I just started to tire out there towards the later part of the eighth. Like I said, I have a lot of confidence in the person who comes behind me and I just wanted to get it to the next person."

Jacob Dudan
Jacob Dudan throws a pitch. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

The Wolfpack shifted its mentality for the series against the Fighting Irish to change the tune on a season that was taking on a lot of water. Even as he waited his turn, Dudan noticed the difference around the clubhouse after a long week of hard practices and the two-straight wins over the Fighting Irish in the first two games of the series.

"I feel like we're definitely a lot more confident. The at-bats look a lot better. Everyone's fighting at the plate," he said. "... All of us pitchers have texted each other every day saying, 'Go in there and pound the zone. See what happens.' I've definitely seen that start to turn over."

Jacob Dudan
May 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack pitcher Jacob Dudan (41) throws in the fifth inning against the Duke Blue Devils during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Saturday marked another example of just how seamless the transition from high-powered bullpen arm to starter with length has been for Dudan. In his seven-plus innings, he struck out six, but never looked to be threatened or concerned by anything Notre Dame was doing. He didn't even feel like he hit his stride until later in the game, either.

"I felt it towards the latter part of the outing," he said. "Early in the outing, I didn't have the pitch location that I wanted... I wasn't used to being around (95 MPH). I think I went back out in the fifth inning and that's when I saw the (velocity) start to jump to 98, 99... I feel like the fifth inning is when I saw that shift and felt better about the outing."

NC State has one of the strongest one-two punches in the ACC when it comes to starting pitching between Dudan and Marohn. Saturday's performance for the former just added more evidence for that hypothesis.

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Tucker Sennett
TUCKER SENNETT

Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.

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