NC State’s freshmen pitchers pull through with shutout frames to cap season sweep over ECU

When redshirt freshman right-hander Truitt Manuel trotted onto the field from NC State’s right field bullpen in the third inning against East Carolina, he was set to inherit one of the worst-case scenarios for any reliever: bases loaded with nobody out. 

Although he walked two of the first three batters he faced to tie the score at two runs apiece, Manuel settled in. The former top-20 prospect in North Carolina’s 2025 recruiting cycle, who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, struck out the next two batters he faced to end the Pirates’ threat there.

And, well, that was the last time that it felt like ECU had a chance to break the game open. NC State, led by a trio of first-year relievers, shut down the Pirates’ lineup to earn a 12-2 win on Tuesday night at Doak Field, clinching the series sweep by an aggregate score of 22-5 in the two victories. 

Manuel responded well after his two early walks before he gave way to freshmen right-handers Mikey Ragusa and Aiden Kitchings to close out the game on the mound. With that set of three youngsters on the bump, ECU was only able to muster 2 hits with just 3 walks and 10 total strikeouts across the final six innings of the night. 

“It’s awesome,” Manuel said afterwards, wearing a large grin. “It’s stuff you dream about, stuff you look towards going into college.”

Manuel beamed after the game. So did Ragusa, who missed the first 36 games due to a lat strain before he made his collegiate debut at ECU April 14. He was a part of the five freshmen pitchers that earned the 10-3 victory over the Pirates in Greenville, and he was able to serve another effective appearance in the final meeting as well. 

“It’s pretty cool,” said Ragusa, whose bleached blond hair peeked through his hat. “Being able to go home and talk about it with them is pretty cool. Being able to work together has been great.”

The Wolfpack’s stable of first-year arms have fed off each other throughout the season. They’ve come up big in moments like Tuesday, but freshman lefty Luke Hemric was key with his early season midweek starts before he rose into the weekend rotation with the Wolfpack dealing with injuries to both star aces Ryan Marohn (week to week, arm) and Jacob Dudan (out for the season, elbow). 

Their most recent performance was just the latest chapter in a next-man-up saga that has allowed the Pack to make the most of the unlucky scenario of its top two starting pitchers being afflicted with injuries in a two-week span. 

While the freshmen were able to answer the bell in the run-rule win, their effectiveness was more than appreciated by the Wolfpack roster. NC State is looking to boost its NCAA Tournament résumé, and earning an RPI top-30 victory is helpful in that, but the program is more focused on winning ACC series each weekend. 

Being able to keep its high-end bullpen arms off the mound in the midweek is crucial in setting the team up for as much success as possible. And with Miami set to arrive for a three-game set this weekend, NC State needed its freshmen to pull through in order to be positioned as best as possible before facing off with the conference’s third-highest scoring squad. 

They did. 

And that’s all Wolfpack skipper Elliott Avent, who received a balanced effort with seven players posting at least one RBI, could ask from his group of talented first-year arms.

“Everybody knows without Dudan and Marohn, this has been tough, it’s been a challenge,” Avent said. “Guys are going to have to step up. Are they totally ready? Probably not at this stage of their career but that’s what we’re asking them to do. Tonight, they were huge.”