With five freshmen taking the field, No. 13 NC State baseball broke through late to defeat Queens 9-2.

Scoring seven runs in the final two innings, NC State (12-1) put the game away versus a solid Queens (4-8) team that beat South Carolina in a midweek matchup last week. In a freshmen affair, head coach Elliott Avent gave rookie Luke Hemric the start — his second of the season — with freshman Vincent DeCarlo making his first start behind the plate. As he has nine other times this season, freshman Rett Johnson got the start in left field.

“A lot of youth out there, but we know our youth is good,” said head coach Elliott Avent.

But it was NC State’s veterans that got it done for the Wolfpack in the seventh and eighth innings. Breaking it open in the seventh, sophomore shortstop Mikey Ryan crushed a 2-RBI homer after senior third baseman Wyatt Peifer got aboard with a walk, giving the Pack a three run lead. Then, junior first baseman Chris McHugh shut the door with a 2-RBI triple to continue his phenomenal start to the season, currently batting .451 with a 1.413 OPS.

It was an offensive explosion at the end, but the game started out as a pitching duel. The combination of Hemric and sophomore righty Ryder Garino had gotten the Pack through the seventh having given up just one run, and Queens starting pitcher Adrian Quezada was dealing in his own right, giving up just two runs through six innings before it fell apart.

“Maybe the best pitching performance we’ve seen this year,” Avent said. “He was on the mound when they beat South Carolina in the midweek last week. And they got a good ball club. They make the plays, they take their wax on fast balls and compete.”

Adding to the freshmen affair, freshman second baseman Christian Serrano got into the game after junior second baseman Luke Nixon collided with the wall next to the luxury seating on the first base side, making a highlight grab.

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“I’ve been here a long time. Probably one of the top five plays I’ve ever seen made in this ballpark, and Luke Nixon has made two of them,” Avent said. “… But he banged up the ankle pretty good. We’ll see.”

Nixon will likely join senior Dalton Bargo on the unofficial injured list and miss some games, but luckily, the Pack has a week or two to get back to full strength before facing top competition, with upcoming series against Lafeyette (0-7) and Boston College (7-5), and a midweek matchup versus Elon (6-6) between those series.

On deck, NC State hosts Lafeyette on Friday, March 6 at 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on ACCNX, or listen on 88.1 WKNC.