{"id":85574,"date":"2025-03-14T21:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T02:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/nc-state-lhp-dominic-fritton-continues-friday-consistency-as-pack-rides-10-game-winning-streak\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T21:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T02:35:19","slug":"nc-state-lhp-dominic-fritton-continues-friday-consistency-as-pack-rides-10-game-winning-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/nc-state-lhp-dominic-fritton-continues-friday-consistency-as-pack-rides-10-game-winning-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"NC State LHP Dominic Fritton continues Friday consistency as Pack rides 10-game winning streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Dominic Fritton<\/a><\/strong> sits in the dugout in the middle of a start, he tries to keep his focus zeroed in on the opposing team\u2019s batters. By the time NC State\u2019s<\/a> hitting order has two outs, Fritton usually will begin to stretch to get ready for another inning of work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Wolfpack\u2019s frame goes long, the lefty will toss a weighted ball near the bench to keep his arm warm. He had to do a lot of that in the fifth and sixth innings of NC State\u2019s 11-1 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night at Doak Field as the Wolfpack posted five runs in each of the frames to rout the Hokies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Fritton had the run support needed to help NC State to the ACC-opening victory, his standout Friday night start seemed to set the tone as the offense took a few frames to warm up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fuquay-Varina, N.C., native went all seven innings of the run-rule victory as he allowed just one run on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts on 117 pitches. He got ahead in most counts to keep his pitch count in a manageable spot all night, which allowed the Wolfpack to preserve its bullpen for Saturday\u2019s doubleheader to wrap the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t any doubt in Fritton\u2019s mind that he wasn\u2019t going to go the distance as the Pack\u2019s offense rolled through the Hokies. He wanted the ball. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to give them everything I had,\u201d Fritton said with a smirk afterwards. \u201cI knew they wanted to give me the opportunity to finish it, so I had to lock in the best I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, everything he had ended up being good news for the Wolfpack. Fritton allowed two walks and an RBI single in the first inning, but he then retired 18 of the last 19 batters he faced \u2014 a one-out single in the third was the only blemish \u2014 to cruise to his third victory on the mound this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fritton is starting to find a rhythm on the bump this spring, something he struggled to find as a sophomore following his Freshman All-America campaign in the 2023 season. The lefty seemed to force pitches a year ago, which caused his ERA to balloon to 7.64 with a 72 strikeout-to-47-walk ratio.\u00a0He completed six innings just once a year ago, as he struggled to make it two times through the order throughout the spring.<\/p>\n

The junior was adamant about finding a fix this offseason. He didn\u2019t wait long after NC State\u2019s season ended at the College World Series in Omaha, either. Fritton worked on himself \u2014 mostly on the mental side of the game \u2014 to return to Raleigh with a new mentality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, Fritton has a weekly routine that he sticks to, which has helped keep him in a stable spot on the mound. He meets with Wolfpack pitching coach Clint Chrysler to go over his previous start, looking for ways to improve before deploying them on the mound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The result has led to a Fritton that resembles his freshman-year self.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI feel like I\u2019m in a much better place mentally,\u201d Fritton said. \u201cI have more belief in myself and what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-belief is a strong trait. It has helped Fritton find consistency in his Friday-night starts. He has tossed at least six innings with only one earned run, two or fewer walks and at least eight strikeouts in each of his last three outings. That was a stat line that Fritton wasn\u2019t able to hit once last season. <\/p>\n

But now, Fritton is in a groove. He holds a 1.26 ERA with 11 runs allowed (just four earned), 13 walks, 39 strikeouts and one extra-base hit conceded through 28.2 innings pitched in his first five starts this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent, who\u2019s in his 29th season at the helm of the program, seeing Fritton find success over multiple starts in a row after a crucial last few months of his development appeared to bring immense joy to his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how hard he worked in the offseason and this fall,\u201d Avent said. \u201cWhen a player works that hard, you don\u2019t always get rewarded in this game. \u2026 To see him get rewarded, it\u2019s pretty special to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fritton was able to cruise through his most recent start. It was the most dominant he\u2019s looked all season \u2014 against a Virginia Tech order that had hit 50 doubles, six triples and 21 home runs through the first 17 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only that, but he got stronger and stronger the longer his outing went. It\u2019s exactly what the Wolfpack is looking to get from its ace on a weekly basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, it seems, it\u2019s all starting to click.<\/p>\n

\u201cFritton, he just hit another level,\u201d Avent said. \u201cHe was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post NC State LHP Dominic Fritton continues Friday consistency as Pack rides 10-game winning streak<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Dominic Fritton sits in the dugout in the middle of a start, he tries…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}