#17 NC State baseball topples Winthrop in home opener behind hot hitting of Drew Lanphere

The #17 NC State Wolfpack defeated the Winthrop Eagles in their home opener, 7-3.

NC State jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in the second. An error by Winthrop’s third baseman Colin Crowley allowed Mikey Ryan to reach, driving in Brayden Fraasman. Drew Lanphere followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Luke Nixon (who advanced to third on the play), though Ryan was doubled off first base on the throw. This gave the Wolfpack a 2-1 advantage after Winthrop had taken a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Grant McGuire’s RBI single to left-center, scoring Ethan Wilson.

Winthrop regained the lead in the third inning with a pair of RBIs from a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to right field, putting the Eagles ahead 3-2.

However, NC State responded immediately in the bottom of the third. Ty Head crushed a solo home run to deep right field (368 feet) – his first of the season – to tie the game at 3-3.

Knew it was gone off the bat. First home run of the season for Ty Head! pic.twitter.com/DYEH2V0der

— NC State Baseball (@NCStateBaseball) February 18, 2026

In the sixth inning, Drew Lanphere broke the tie when he launched a three-run homer to deep right field (383 feet), his first of the year, scoring Luke Nixon and extending the lead to 6-3 (reliever Ben Rehkow took the loss for Winthrop).

Drew Lanphere with the 2-run homer to break the tie.

NC State leads 5-3 in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/0WK1hmSzHN

— PackInsider.com (@PackInsider) February 18, 2026

NC State tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Brayden Fraasman homered to left field (396 feet) for his first long ball of the season, making it 7-3. Drew Lanphere stayed hot with an RBI double later in the inning.

Someone check on that bus. Fraasman hits the Wolfpack’s third home run of the game and his first of the season.

Wolfpack leads 6-3. pic.twitter.com/rniiQQDzGF

— NC State Baseball (@NCStateBaseball) February 18, 2026

NC State once again showcased its balanced offense and some added pop.

• Drew Lanphere: 2-2, HR, double, 4 RBI (including the go-ahead three-run shot)
• Luke Nixon: 3-4 (strong day setting the table)
• Brayden Fraasman: 1-3, HR, RBI
• Ty Head: HR

Anderson Nance earned the win for NC State (1-0), with Cooper Consiglio closing things out on the mound (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K). Luke Hemric also came up big in a high-leverage situation, finishing his 2.1 innings with 3 Ks (but also 3 BBs). Starter Heath Andrews struggled a bit, allowing 3 earned in 3 innings, walking 2, giving up 5 hits,  and striking out 2

The Wolfpack improved to 3-0 early in 2026, while Winthrop fell to 2-2. This was a solid way to open up the season in Raleigh.