Freshman LHP Luke Hemric rises to occasion, NC State beats Winthrop for third straight win

By all accounts, freshman Luke Hemric is normally an even-keeled person. He’s not one to show too much emotion, whether it’s on the baseball field or when he’s hanging out with his NC State teammates. Most know what they’re going to get from him as a usually mellow individual. 

But if anyone was watching the left-hander make his collegiate debut against Winthrop on Wednesday afternoon at Doak Field, that summation would be a surprise. Hemric, a tall southpaw, played with his heart on his sleeve in his first trip to the mound in a Wolfpack uniform — and it showed rather quickly. 

Hemric trotted in from the home bullpen to inherit a pair of runners in scoring position with just one out in the fourth inning. It was quite the tall task for a first-year player to walk into, but the pressure appeared to be tenfold in his first outing for the program he grew up in awe of as an Apex native.

Despite walking the first batter he faced on four pitches to load the bases, Hemric settled himself down on the bump. He told himself a pair of affirmations — “I’ve got it. I believe in myself” — to refocus his mind to look to minimize the damage in what was a knotted score at 3-3 in the midweek tilt.

And, well, Hemric delivered. He struck out the following two batters on 1-2 counts, the latter of which was a 90-mph fastball that led to what caught everyone clad in the Pack’s creme uniforms and red hats off guard. 

He yelled. He pumped his fists. He pounded his chest. 

Hemric’s big spot kept NC State from falling behind at the hinge point. It swung the momentum back to the Wolfpack after the Eagles scored two runs in the prior frame, setting the tone for the 7-3 home-opening win as he sparked a bullpen performance that featured six shutout innings while scattering a pair of hits. 

The 6-foot-2 reliever’s emotion, albeit rare, was a sight that NC State skipper Elliott Avent enjoyed seeing from the dugout. After all, the 30th-year coach put his true freshman in a challenging spot, one that he rose to the occasion in during the team’s third game of the 2026 campaign.

“I put him in a tough situation. He was proud he was able to get out of it,” Avent said. “This game will do that to you, so I was glad to see it, to be honest with you.”

For Hemric, who long dreamed of donning the Wolfpack’s logo on his chest in a meaningful game, felt as if the high-leverage situation proved his offseason work paid off. NC State had other options in the bullpen, but elected to go to the No. 2 left-handed pitching prospect in the state’s 2025 recruiting cycle first, and Hemric slammed the door on the Eagles’ most-threatening situation of the ballgame. 

“It’s rare you see young guys go out there in big jams like that,” Hemric said. “I’ve worked my butt off to get where I’m at today. I’m blessed to be able to go out there to pitch to the best of my abilities and to have the coaching staff just trust me to go out there in a big situation like that and execute.”

Hemric continued to fill his role in the fifth, where he faced the minimum after allowing a leadoff walk by inducing an inning-ending double play two batters later. He mowed through the Eagles’ lineup with ease, earning another trip to the rubber.

In the sixth, his emotions showed up once again. Home plate umpire Tim Rosso thought Hemric hit Winthrop’s Colin Crowley on the elbow in a 2-2 count, but Avent elected to challenge the call. As the lengthy review left Hemric on the mound with his own thoughts, he grew annoyed by the time passing by. Internally, he came to a decision: If the call was reversed, Crowley was going down on strikes. 

And, well, he had his opportunity after Avent won the challenge. The next pitch followed with Hemric firing it past Crowley, who fanned on it with no chance of catching up to the heat. It led Hemric to waving off the umpire, a move he said afterwards he shouldn’t have done, but in the moment it validated his capabilities at the collegiate level.

“Being in the moment, I was kind of mad because they took a long time to review it. I didn’t think I hit him, obviously,” Hemric said. “To [strike him out] on the next pitch was pretty sick, but I probably shouldn’t wave at the guy the next time that happens.”

Although his collegiate debut was brief — one hit allowed with three walks and three strikeouts across 46 pitches in 2.1 innings of work — Hemric wore a large grin afterwards. He built a large amount of confidence with his success through NC State’s fall ball and preseason practices, but being able to rise to the occasion in a meaningful game was the ultimate form of validation for the young arm. 

It wasn’t the easiest spot to prove that with a pair of go-ahead runs 90 and 180 feet away from scoring, but Hemric did his job. And that was what he felt most proud of as he reflected on fulfilling a life-long dream.

“My first outing, so I had a lot of adrenaline pumping through my body. Punching out the next two guys was super big,” Hemric said. “The fans were in it, our teammates were in it. I was just happy to do my job and get the job done.”