NC State Baseball Starts to Solve Road Woes in ECU Win

While midweeks have been a bit of a struggle during the 2026 season, NC State baseball's larger concern was its struggles on the road, especially since the start of ACC play. The Wolfpack went to Greenville, N.C., for a midweek matchup against a solid East Carolina squad on Tuesday and got the job done with a 10-3 win. It helped spin things in a better direction on the road.

"A little more juice for sure, but we're just trying to in the approach," NC State third baseman Sherman Johnson said after the victory. "We're a good team, they're a good team, but we just want to come out here and prove why we're the better team."

Learning to play the game

Elliott Avent. — NC State head coach Elliott Avent before a game. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

While the Wolfpack has lots of returning talent from last season and even two seasons ago when the team made it all the way to the 2024 College World Series, there are still several newer players learning what it means to play in the ACC and for NC State. Head coach Elliott Avent was just pleased that his team showed enough in Greenville to get a win.

"I think anytime you can come down here and win a baseball game, it's huge," Avent said. "Their offense has been scoring a lot of runs, so when you hold their offense to three runs, that's incredible. I think playing with the lead helped that... That was the biggest thing."

Seven runs in seven innings.

ECU commits another error, leading to a Wolfpack run!

T7 | Wolfpack 7, ECU 1 pic.twitter.com/YrqP3erz3b
— NC State Baseball (@NCStateBaseball) April 15, 2026

Before the win over ECU, NC State had just two true road wins, as the victories during the Puerto Rico series to open the season don't count toward the team's away record. Avent's willingness to lean on younger pitchers during the win helped him in his goal to get his Wolfpack to learn how to win by simply playing the game. For freshman lefty Luke Hemric, it was a refreshing four innings of work.

"I think UNC Wilmington on the road was one of the starts that I just wasn't comfortable, wasn't myself," Hemric said. "Just kind of getting back to myself... was just super important for me. I'm pitching like I need to be, and just having fun is the most important thing for me because at the end of the day, it's just a kids' game. You know, having fun is when you're the best."

Freshman left-handed pitcher Luke Hemric (far left) high-fives his teammates during NC State's 10-3 victory over East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., on April 14, 2026. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

Hemric knows better than anyone what it means for NC State to get a win over ECU, being a North Carolina native and baseball fan himself. For that to be the win that helped spark the Wolfpack's road success means a lot to someone like the freshman. Now, the challenge is turning just one game's worth of road success into something more.

NC State's first opportunity comes this weekend when it heads to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest in another Tobacco Road rivalry series. Avent and his team will continue to try to flip the script of the season away from the Doak, beginning on Friday.

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