Ryan Marohn headlines standout opening weekend for NC State’s freshman pitchers

NC State coach Elliott Avent sat inside Cloos’ Coney Island restaurant with incoming freshman left-handed pitcher Ryan Marohn in July to watch the MLB Draft. The young arm was a likely draft pick, but he weighed his decision alongside his future coach.

Marohn was not sure which way he was going to go. There were several teams interested in taking him, but they were not going to use a valued draft pick on a player that was not going to sign. Marohn thought about it with Avent, and finally made the decision: he was headed to NC State. 

The Chantilly, Va., native called the interested teams and told them he was going to join the Wolfpack. That was that — or so they thought. The Cleveland Guardians used the 608th pick, the seventh-to-last pick in the 20th round, on Marohn, just in case he changed his mind. 

But there was not any mind to change. He was set on playing for Avent and wearing the NC State logo across his chest. Once the two saw Marohn’s name pop up in the draft’s final round, Avent looked at his pitcher and had an idea. 

“You’re going to wear No. 20 this year,” Avent told Marohn after the draft concluded, referencing his draft position. “It’s going to mean something to you.”

Fast forward eight months and Marohn’s decision to join the Wolfpack looked like a solid choice during his collegiate debut in NC State’s opening-weekend finale against VCU on Sunday at Doak Field. 

Marohn, a top-50 left-handed pitcher in the Class of 2023, tossed the most-complete performance of any of the Wolfpack’s starting pitchers in the series. He went five shutout innings with just two hits allowed, three walks and eight strikeouts on 89 pitches. 

The young arm was able to control the game for most of his time on the mound with his command of his secondary pitches. He allowed a leadoff double in the first, but Marohn settled in by the third inning. He logged back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth before his first sense of trouble appeared in the fifth. 

“I was nervous,” Marohn said afterwards. “Four walks is part of it, but I settled in and I felt comfortable after the first inning or so.”

Marohn had ramped up to around 75 pitches this preseason, but he ended up in a bases-loaded jam in his final inning of work. He allowed a one-out single and a pair of walks, but with two down and the bases loaded, Avent decided to let Marohn try to get out of his own situation. 

Though he hit the most pitches he had thrown this season — 86 at the time the next batter appeared — Marohn fired three consecutive strikes to get Aden Hill down swinging to preserve his scoreless start. His final pitch was an effective slider that catcher Jacob Cozart wanted down in the zone, and Marohn hit his spot perfectly.

Not a bad way to end his collegiate debut. 

But why did Avent elect to keep his freshman starter in the game with VCU threatening to cut into the Wolfpack’s lead? He trusted Marohn to find a way.

“A guy that pitches that gutty of a performance, you gotta go with your gut,” Avent said. “His gut, his heart, you could tell that it was in it. Him pitching out of the jam tells you everything. If you had any doubt about Ryan Marohn, and he’s out of gas, but he’s like Toby Keith, ‘I’ve got one more in me.’ He Toby Keith’ed that thing right there.”

While Marohn impressed on the mound, he was not the only freshman pitcher to do so this weekend. Avent raved about the young arms on NC State’s pitching staff in the preseason, and two others stepped up when needed against VCU. 

Some of NC State’s more experienced arms — graduate righty Sam Highfill, sophomore right-handed pitcher Dom Fritton and redshirt senior righty Logan Whitaker — did not have what they usually display on the rubber, Avent said. But the freshmen did: right-handers Jaxon Lucas and Jacob Dudan, and Marohn.

Lucas made his collegiate debut Sunday in the seventh inning. Tennessee transfer pitcher Hollis Fanning allowed two runs, including a solo home run to start the seventh, so Lucas was inserted to try to preserve NC State’s lead. 

The Garner, N.C., native was able to keep the Rams at bay in the frame with just a hit by pitch allowing a runner to reach. He then struck out the first two batters he faced in the eighth before VCU hit a homer off of Lucas and a single, which led to his day being done. 

NC State called on Dudan to make his second appearance of the weekend Sunday. He pitched a clean nine-pitch inning Saturday, and entered the contest to get the Pack out of the weekend with a series win. 

Dudan pitched the final 1.1 innings and did not allow a hit in the series finale. He walked one batter and hit another, while he recorded a strikeout. The Huntersville, N.C., native finished the weekend with 2.1 innings pitched to go with one hit allowed and a pair of strikeouts.

NC State’s trio of freshmen pitchers combined to throw nine innings in the latter two games of the series against VCU with five hits, one run allowed, five walks and 13 strikeouts. All three pitched quality innings, and provided a glimpse of the depth NC State has in the event its veteran arms struggle on the bump. 

For Marohn, who “turned down a lot of money,” according to Avent, wearing NC State’s red and white is something he takes pride in. His first-career start went almost as well as it could have, and he was thankful to the 28th-year coach for giving him an opportunity in the ACC.

“It means a lot,” Marohn said. “This was one of the only schools to give me an opportunity out of high school. I love this place, the fan base is amazing. I’m really excited for the future.”