NC State’s bullpen ‘confident’ heading into pivotal part of the season

During the early part of the season, NC State sophomore closer Derrick Smith was searching for consistency. He didn’t allow an earned run through his first three appearances — 1.2 innings in total — and then suffered a rocky five-run inning against Boston College in mid-March.

Smith was in a new role for the first time with the Wolfpack: he was pitching every week. As he was getting comfortable in his new spot in the Pack’s bullpen, Smith did not have full control of his slider. That, in turn, made him a one-pitch arm, and the Eagles smashed a pair of homers in that lone inning. 

But then something changed. The slider, which he had been tinkering with, finally felt good out of his hand. It felt good again in a three-run 0.2-inning outing at Georgia Tech, though the scoreboard said otherwise. By the time he made his next appearance a week later, it was solved. 

Smith pitched a clean inning against then-No. 9 Duke with a strikeout in late March. He was able to command his slider from that day on and gave up four runs in his next three outings, an improvement from the rocky stages of the year. Since that stretch, Smith has allowed just one earned run in his last nine appearances with 21 strikeouts in that period. 

The Wolfpack’s closer was comfortable and confident — a dangerous mix for opposing batting orders. 

“I just found my groove,” Smith said this week. “Once I found that slider, my confidence level went up and my success level went up. I just try and repeat that over and over.”

Now, as Smith has found his stride on the rubber, so has the rest of NC State’s bullpen. Freshmen Cooper Consiglio and Jacob Dudan have come up big in key moments, though the Pack will be without sophomore reliever Shane Van Dam the rest of the way with an elbow injury. 

Freshman lefty Ryan Marohn is now in the bullpen after serving as the team’s midweek starter, adding yet another weapon to the Wolfpack’s arsenal.

NC State has leaned on a young core in the bullpen, and it has been successful in ACC play. The Pack has not dropped any of the five ranked league series it has played this spring, including weekend series victories over No. 2 Clemson, No. 9 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina and No. 10 Virginia.

Dudan has allowed just two earned runs — both at Virginia — in his last four appearances with 13 strikeouts to four walks in that span. He gave the Pack four innings of relief to keep the team in it against UNCW on April 30, while he fanned five in that outing.

Consiglio, meanwhile, has experience starting this year on Sundays while graduate Logan Whitaker battled an illness. When the freshman went to the bullpen, he was able to become a key bridge arm — especially with Van Dam, the primary long reliever, going down with the injury. 

The Palm Harbor, Fla., native has tossed 4.1 innings in each of his last two relief appearances to give the Wolfpack the length it needed out of the bullpen. He earned the win at No. 7 Florida State with just one earned run allowed on two hits with five strikeouts and a walk. 

Consiglio followed that up nine days later with another gem from the bullpen. He allowed just one hit with three strikeouts and two walks to guide the Wolfpack to the series win over the Cavaliers. 

For Consiglio, a young arm that has excelled in big moments, the key to his success is keeping focused on the task at hand.

“I’d say the most important thing that I’ve learned is to just keep my confidence up,” Consiglio said. “Make sure that I don’t get into my own head and just make sure that I’m focused on the bigger picture.”

That confidence piece is not limited to just Consiglio. Iit has translated to the entire bullpen as a unit. 

“I think each outing, the confidence level builds up and builds up,” Smith said. “Pitching is hard so some things are going to happen.If you can minimize those to the best of your ability, you just stay on that high level of confidence.”

The Wolfpack has a weekend series with No. 8 Wake Forest at Doak Field, beginning Thursday, and the team’s bullpen will likely be crucial once again. 

Smith, the NC State’s go-to shutdown closer, thought it was critical the team’s bullpen is finding consistent success late in the season with the team looking to make a run through June. 

“It’s really good to see, especially at this point in the season,” Smith said. “Whoever goes in there, just does their job and hands the ball off to the next guy. Even if you don’t do good, the next guy’s going to pick you up. That trust in one another is really big.”

“Success builds on and on,” Smith continued. “Everyone believes in themselves, and the team believes in everyone.”