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NC State RHP Shane Van Dam set to return from elbow injury, make season debut at UNCW

image_6483441 (3)by:Noah Fleischman•05/05/25•

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Shane Van Dam
NC State right-handed pitcher Shane Van Dam and catcher Jacob Cozart talk on the mound. (Photo credit: Mollie Mitchell/NC State Athletics).

Just under a year after having his 2024 season cut short due to an elbow injury, NC State junior right-handed pitcher Shane Van Dam is set to return on Tuesday at UNCW, the program announced.

Van Dam, a former Division III transfer from SUNY Cortland, posted a 4-0 record with a 4.58 ERA over 37.1 innings pitched in 16 appearances last season.

The Cranford, N.J., native was a key bullpen arm for the Wolfpack when he was healthy during the 2024 campaign. He was the team’s go-to long reliever, posting a season-best eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched at then-No. 2 Clemson to help NC State secure an 11-8 victory over the Tigers.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” NC State catcher Jacob Cozart, who was a Cleveland Guardians second rounder in 2024, said last season. “He can throw a strike by a guy and he’ll be mad about it because he knows he didn’t hit his spot. He just wants to do good for the team. … The way that dude competes, I admire him for that.”

Van Dam cruised through his first spring at NC State before he left a May 3, 2024 outing at Florida State with arm discomfort after one inning. It was later diagnosed as a UCL tear, which forced Van Dam to undergo Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for NC State’s run to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha.

Now, however, it seems like he was able to make a recovery on the shorter end of the prognosis. The Wolfpack aimed for a mid-May return at the earliest this preseason, and Van Dam appears to have beaten that timeline.

Van Dam ramped up over the last couple weeks, including a return to the mound with a live batter last Wednesday. NC State skipper Elliott Avent believed if that outing went well, Van Dam would be positioned well to make his season debut.

And it looks like it did now that the electric righty has been announced as the Pack’s starter for its final midweek game of the season. Although he will take the rubber first, Van Dam is likely on a limited pitch count as he works his way back into the Wolfpack’s bullpen.

If everything goes well in his first appearance of the year, Van Dam will supply another quality arm to NC State’s stable of relievers. The Wolfpack has relied on junior Andrew Shaffner, sophomore Jacob Dudan and freshman Anderson Nance to help limit opposing batters from the bullpen. Van Dam’s late-season addition brings much-needed depth to NC State’s pitching staff moving forward as the postseason looms at the end of the month.

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