Wolfpack Gets Unfortunate Jacob Dudan News
RALEIGH — Just a few days after an impressive Saturday outing against Notre Dame, right-handed pitcher Jacob Dudan of NC State received some disastrous news. The junior starter will miss the rest of the season and undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL after 50 innings of work in the 2026 season.
Dudan formed the second half of one of the best one-two punches in college baseball in terms of starting pitching, joining fellow junior Ryan Marohn as one of the alphas on the staff. It's a major blow for the Wolfpack's season, which appeared to be turning a corner after four-straight wins before a massive series against its Tobacco Road rival, the Duke Blue Devils.
More on Dudan's absence
Concern about Dudan grew when NC State revealed its probable pitchers for the three-game set against Duke on Thursday afternoon. Marohn was in his usual Friday slot, but Dudan was absent from the Saturday slot, with righty Heath Andrews listed as the starter instead. Dudan had thrown over 100 pitches in six consecutive starts, so pulling him could've been precautionary.
Eventually, both Baseball America and On3 confirmed the worst-case scenario had come true for the Wolfpack: Dudan needed Tommy John surgery. After 62 strikeouts and four wins, Dudan's career as a Wolfpack starter likely came to an end with that news, as he played himself into a position to be drafted to the MLB as a junior before the injury. Teams will still take a chance on the powerful righty, especially as more and more pros return from the surgery and still have success.
❤️ WPN
— Jacob Dudan (@DudanJacob) April 10, 2026
The injury pushes Andrews into a far more prominent role, while also potentially adding more to the plate of left-handed pitcher Cooper Consiglio, who has been steady in spot starts and as a reliever. Marohn's workload won't change, but NC State will have to be careful with its ace moving forward, given the significant blow to the pitching depth.
2026 was Dudan's first season as a starter, having worked as a powerful reliever in his first two years with the program. He seemed comfortable with the longer outings in each of his starts, never having injury issues before Saturday, when he came out of the game after losing some control in the middle of an at-bat. Still, there was no reason to believe there was a severe injury at the time.
NC State's offense needs to take things back to the level it showed early in the season to make up for the loss of such an important member of the rotation. After a seven-game losing streak, the Wolfpack regained some of the positive momentum in the season, capped off by the impressive Saturday start from Dudan. Avoiding a lull will be hard given the emotions of the moment, but Elliott Avent has been through this before in his 30-year career.
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.
Follow SennettTucker