Call it a hangover after the win the previous night against Coastal, call it a delayed reaction to losing Luke Nixon early, call it what you will. In the end, NC State finally pulled away and put to bed an upset bid by Queens, notching a 9-2 win over the Royals in Raleigh.

Freshman LHP Luke Hemric got the start on the mound for State and set down Queens in order in the top of the first, thanks in part to a heck of a catch from Nixon in foul ground.

While Nixon remained in the game for the final out of the frame and his subsequent at-bat in the bottom half of the inning, he was lifted at the start of the second inning and it was later revealed to be an ankle injury from his impacting the wall. This will be the big storyline coming out of this game, as the Wolfpack now have two starters down – hopefully temporarily – with leg injuries. Dalton Bargo is already on the shelf with a quad injury, and no timetable has been established for the return of either player.

The game was scoreless through two innings with the only base runner coming courtesy of a leadoff walk to Lenox Lively of Queens in the 2nd inning, but he was left stranded by Hemric.

The Royals scratched the first run of the game in the 3rd thanks to an infield single, a stolen base, advancement on a groundout, and a wild pitch. NC State responded in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Mikey Ryan leadoff double, with Ryan advancing to third on a flyout by Vincent DeCarlo who got the start behind the dish in this one. Rett Johnson then plated Ryan with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

It remained a 1-1 tie until the bottom of the 6th when State finally put up another run on Queens starter Adrian Quezada, who turned in quite the effort despite ultimately being saddled with the loss. Ty Head opened State’s half of the inning with a double and stole third base with one out. Christian Serrano then brought Head home on a sacrifice fly to put the Pack ahead 2-1.

State then blew the game open in the 7th. Wyatt Peifer worked a four-pitch, one-out walk and then Ryan crushed a pitch over the visitor bullpen for a 4-1 Wolfpack lead.

The Pack would add two more runs in the inning, all with two outs. Rett Johnson had an infield single and Head walked before Chris McHugh brought them both in with a triple.

Queens scratched a run in the 8th off Aiden Kitchings, who had come on in relief of Ryder Garino, who entered the game at the start of the 4th inning. Two freebies (HBP, BB) ahead of a Grayson Childers double plated the Royals run. Sam Harris came on for the record the final out of the inning.

That run didn’t matter much with State pushing across three in the bottom of the 8th. Sherman Johnson led off the inning with a walk and stole second base. Peifer and Ryan both followed with walks to load the bases with no outs. Drew Lanphere brought home Johnson on a sacrifice fly, and Rett Johnson singled home Peifer and Ryan.

Danny Heintz came on the pitch the 9th, and was in no mood for any funny business, setting down the Royals in order, including a pair of strikeouts.

It would have been nice to see State blow the doors off Queens in this one, but they avoided the big win hangover upset and played an error-free game. Credit to Quezada (6.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP) for arguably the best outing of his D1 career.

Meanwhile for State, Garino (4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K) put forth his best D1 outing in earning his first win with the Wolfpack. Ryan (2-for-3, 2B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, 1-1 SB) was the offensive star of the show, while Rett Johnson (2-for-3, R, 3 RBI, SF, 1-1 SB) and Head (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, BB, 2-2 SB) put together nice multi-hit efforts. Peifer (1-for-2, 2R, 2 BB) was the lone other Pack batter to reach base safely multiple times on the day.

State will be back in action for their final regular season non-conference weekend series, a home tilt against Lafayette (0-7, RPI #287). First pitch for the Friday opener is scheduled for 3:00pm.