The two most significant losses (thus far, at least) make their exit
NC State had already seen 10 members of the Wolfpack’s 2025 baseball team enter the transfer portal, but had managed to keep the core of a potential 2026 team intact. That changed on Thursday with the transfer portal entries of JR RHP Derrick Smith and FR 3B Ryder Woodson. SO 1B Matt Ossenfort also threw his hat into the transfer ring.
After barely pitching as a freshman in 2023 (3.0 IP) and then struggling early in the 2024 season, Smith turned into a stud closer, teaming with Jacob Dudan to form the nation’s best 1-2 bullpen punch in helping the Wolfpack earn a College World Series appearance. In that 2024 season, Smith put together an impressive line of 3-2, 8 SV, 4.55 ERA, 29.2 IP, 8.9 BB%, 33.3 K%, using his dominating slider and mid-90’s heater to make hitters look silly. Over his final 15 appearances of that campaign, he allowed just 3 ER over 22.0 IP, allowing just 6 H and 9 BB against 33 K.
After spending the summer of 2024 with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, Smith battled injuries throughout the entirety of the spring 2025 season. He tried to tough through it, but was clearly not himself. He lacked control and his velocity sat down around 90 mph instead of the 95 he was pumping a year prior. Smith ended up pitching just 3.0 innings in 2025, and while he did strike out 8 batters in that span, 6 walks were issued.
The market will be strong for Smith, assuming he goes undrafted by MLB teams in July.
Woodson was technically the second lowest ranked member of the Wolfpack’s 2025 freshman class, and his playing time represented that well, making just 2 starts among 19 games played in the regular season. Those two starts came in early March in non-conference games, but Woodson would return to the starting lineup in the Auburn Regional with a huge splash.
In three games in Regional play, Woodson went 5-for-14 with 2 2B, 3 HR, 4 R, and 8 RBI. For the season, he hit .333/.412/.733, 3 2B, 3 HR, 5.9 BB%, 23.5 K%, 0-0 SB over 34 plate appearances across 23 games played. The Florida native’s performance in Alabama, coupled with the transfers of Matt Heavner and Ryan Jaros, certainly pointed to Woodson being entrenched as the Pack’s third baseman in 2026, but that appears to not be the case – barring, of course, a reversal and decision to stay in Raleigh next year.
This is definitely a strike-while-the-iron’s-hot scenario for Woodson and he shouldn’t have a hard time finding a new home.
Ossenfort came to Raleigh after a year at Vanderbilt, where he played in just 6 games. The South Dakota native who played his high school ball in Florida, served in a reserve capacity with the Wolfpack in 2025, being unable to gain a firm grasp on the DH role after Chris McHugh won the starting first base job. For the year, Ossenfort hit .240/.406/.340, 2 2B, 1 HR, 18.8 BB%, 17.2 K%, 0-0 SB. He appeared in just one of the Wolfpack’s five postseason games, a start in the ACC Tournament against Clemson, in which he went 0-for-1 with a K and 3 BB.
Given his 6’3, 217 lbs frame, lefty bat, and experience in the SEC and ACC, Ossenfort shouldn’t have too hard of a time finding a new home. The question will be whether he sticks at the ACC/SEC level or moves on to a different conference.
NC State is now at 13 players in the transfer portal. Of the 2025 roster, there are only four returning infielders as of this moment, which includes Brandon Novy and Trenton Lyons. Novy played just 10 games in the infield in 2025 (8 games at 1B, 2 games at 3B) and Lyons only appearances were at DH while battling injuries the entire season.