NC State baseball’s redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Dalton Feeney has been through a lot during his time in Raleigh. From missing the 2018 season due to injury to having COVID-19 cancel most of last season, Feeney is ready to take on the 2021 season.
Thanks to an NCAA waiver that allows spring athletes to have another year of eligibility, Feeney is back for his fifth year in Raleigh.
“I wanted to come back,” Feeney said at baseball media day Feb. 17. “I wanted to make another run at Omaha.”
During his time at NC State, Feeney has seen different roles in head coach Elliott Avent’s pitching staff. He has started games, been a long reliever in the middle of games and also been a closer for the Wolfpack.
With the season still young and NC State struggling to find an identity in the bullpen, Feeney is willing to take whatever role is needed to try to help his team get out of an early season slump.
“I can fit in different roles,” Feeney said. “The thing that I look at is what can I do to help this team and that’s what I am here for.”
Coming to NC State all the way from Bismarck, North Dakota, Feeney has been a staple in the NC State pitching staff during his time here. His best season was in 2019,, where he had a 1.86 ERA in 23 appearances for a total of 29 innings pitched and picked up seven saves.
With the long offseason due to the pandemic, Feeney did not take a break. Hoping his chance would come again to pitch at the Doak, he and other members of the NC State pitching staff went to work.
“We just went right to work, we tried to get one step ahead everyday,” Feeney said. “When we came back in the fall, everybody was clicking on all cylinders.”
Listed at 6 feet, 3 inches and 226 pounds, Feeney is visually intimidating to opposing batters. However, to have success on the mound in the ACC, it takes more than just intimidation.
So far in the 2021 season, things have not panned out the way Feeney would have imagined. In four appearances for a total of 2.1 innings pitched, Feeney has given up three earned runs, which has his ERA currently at 11.57.
He has proven during his time at NC State that he can be a trustworthy option out of the bullpen. That being said, time is running out on his NC State career, and now would be the perfect time for him to get back to being thee dominant force on the mound he has proven he can be.
Feeney and his teammates will be back in action Friday, March 12 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to start a three-game set with Duke. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 4 p.m.
