LHP Luke Hemric paces young pitching staff with stellar start in win at East Carolina

GREENVILLE — Luke Hemric grew frustrated with his pitching command after his first half-dozen appearances to start his NC State career. The freshman lefty turned in 10 walks to 11 strikeouts, which he wasn’t used to after setting the all-time strikeout record at Apex (N.C.) Friendship High over his previous four seasons. 

He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t consistently locate his pitches where he wanted, allowing free bases far too often. A meeting with Wolfpack pitching coach Clint Chrysler, however, seemed to do the trick. 

A change to his pitching mechanics wasn’t needed. Those were fine. Instead, the program’s veteran assistant wanted Hemric to focus on one thing: Having fun on the baseball field once again. 

And once he did that, it seemed to unlock a more polished version of the promising southpaw. Fast-forward just under a month, Hemric is back on track with his latest start being his most impactful of the season.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound former No. 2 left-handed prospect in North Carolina’s 2025 recruiting class logged four shutout innings with two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts to set the tone for NC State’s 10-3 win over East Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Tuesday night.

“He continues to grow. This is a freshman that’s going to have an outstanding career here at NC State,” Pack skipper Elliott Avent said afterwards. “He continues to grow and give us big innings. Right now, it’s exactly what we need.”

Although Hemric was able to consistently pound the zone with his mid-90s fastball and standout breaking balls, he wasn’t pleased with his first-inning walk. Yes, he was surrounded by 5,584 fans in the most-hostile environment he’s seen so far this season, including the hundreds of the most vocal Pirates supporters past the outfield wall, but the first-year arm felt like his nerves got to him on that five-pitch free pass. 

It irked him, but Hemric was able to collect himself on the mound to focus on the next batters. And it worked. 

Hemric seemed to find his groove, making quick work of the next two batters with a strikeout and a groundout. He bounced back after allowing a two-out double in the second with a strikeout before adding two more to his total in a one-two-three third inning. 

From there on, Hemric appeared to be the pitcher that the staff believes he can be. The last batter he faced proved that, fanning catcher Michael Kalinich with runners on first and second to keep ECU off the board in the fourth. 

Hemric, an Apex native, was amped up to post a quality start in the storied rivalry between the two squads. 

“Being a kid from North Carolina, I’ve always watched NC State and ECU growing up,” said Hemric, who boasted a 3.60 ERA to go with his 28 strikeouts and 15 walks in 25 total innings across his first 10 appearances. “Being able to pitch in this type of environment is a blessing and I’m blessed to be able to go out there and pitch the way I did today.”

Hemric set the stage for the rest of the night. NC State’s shorthanded pitching staff needs its freshmen to perform well in the midweeks after junior ace Jacob Dudan went down with an elbow injury that requires Tommy John surgery. 

The victory at ECU put any concerns that Avent or Chrysler may have had in their youngsters to rest. 

Freshman righty Mikey Ragusa made his collegiate debut after recovering from a lat strain over the course of the first 35 games, posting a perfect frame before the Pirates got to him. The former top-300 prospect gave up a leadoff double before he induced back-to-back groundouts, and the latter allowed a run to score. 

Ragusa gave way to freshman right-handers Sam Harris and Aiden Kitchings, the former of which allowed two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings of work while the latter picked up an inning-ending strikeout in the eighth. From there, redshirt freshman Truitt Manuel was able to shut the door on ECU with a perfect ninth inning with his fourth strikeout of the season to seal the win. 

Avent, the 30th-year manager, seemed to like what he saw from the quartet of first-year relievers that were able to build off the  momentum Hemric built on the bump. 

“We need some guys to step up,” Avent said, “and that was very, very encouraging about what these guys did tonight.”

NC State learned a lot about its young bullpen pieces on a pressure-filled stage. Its offense was able to give the pitching staff plenty of margin for error — propelled by five extra-base hits — but the Wolfpack didn’t need to use much of it en route to the seventh win in its last eight tries. 

Of all the youthful arms to make an appearance, it was Hemric that impressed the most. He looked calm and confident, traits that the Pack is looking for him to continue to display moving forward. After all, he’s improved each outing he’s toed the rubber. His sixth start of the year was the one that felt the most like his dominant high school outings, navigating a quality Pirates offense with what looked to be ease. 

This type of outing has been inside Hemric’s arsenal all along. Avent believed it was just a matter of his lefty trusting his pitches. 

“I think, early on, maybe he was just unsure,” Avent said. “That’s every freshman we’ve ever had here. … I think his confidence continues to grow. He understands how good he is.”

Self-belief is a key factor for any pitcher, regardless of age. But especially for a freshman that has been tasked with shouldering the midweek starting role for the rest of the season with Dudan going down. 

Despite more pressure on himself, Hemric has been able to channel the small but effective advice from Chrysler. It’s paid dividends ever since.

“I just feel like I’ve been pitching like how I need to be,” Hemric said. “Just having fun out there is the most important thing for me because, at the end of the day, it’s just a kid’s game. Having fun is when you’re the best.”