NC State nabbed its first transfer portal additions for the 2027 Pack9 squad, and both come from the same school. Rising rJR 2B Hunter Warren and SR LHP Chet Lax will be heading to Raleigh from Wright State where they played for former Wolfpack pitcher Alex Sogard. Under Sogard’s leadership, the Raiders won their sixth straight Horizon League regular season title and have captured four of the last six Horizon League Tournament titles, coming a walk-off home run this year from making it five-of-six.
A native of Moline, IL, Warren has started all 116 games for Wright State over the last two years after redshirting his first year on campus in 2024. For his career, the 6’0, 180 lbs right-handed hitter has put up a combined line of .344/.429/.465, 27 2B, 9 HR, 10.8 BB%, 10.9 K%, 23-of-34 SB while earning 1st Team All-Horizon League honors in both 2025 and 2026. This year, Warren slugged to the tune of .361/.437/.529, 12 2B, 8 HR, 10.1 BB%, 8.6 K%, 15-of-22 SB. He’s a ground-ball oriented hitter, but bumped up the power significantly this past year. In the field, he posted a .982 fielding percentage in 2026 and holds a .980 career fielding percentage
Assuming doesn’t turn pro via the MLB Draft next month, Warren figures to step into the expected vacated starting second base gig held the last three years by Luke Nixon. Warren led Wright State in WAR with 2.51 in 2026 while posting 4.93 DRS. Nixon posted 3.40 WAR and 7.68 DRS in 2026, for comparison.
The southpaw Lax is a native of Hendersonville, TN, and joined Warren on the All-Horizon League 1st Team this year. The 6’0, 170 pounder started 13 of his 17 appearances, posting a line of 9-1, 4.23 ER, 78.2 IP, 5.9 BB%, 20.2 K%. For his career, Lax has an overall line of 18-4, 5.10 ERA, 183.2 IP, 7.0 BB%, 18.8 K%. He earned Horizon League All-Freshman honors in 2024. Lax has improved his ERA, strikeout rate, groundball rate, and opposing batting average each year of his career.
Warren and Lax got an up-close look at the NC State campus and baseball facilities back in 2025 when the Wolfpack hosted the Raiders for a three-game series. Warren went 4-for-10 with an RBI and a stolen base in the series. Lax appeared in the middle game of the series, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 2 BB in 1.2 IP, but he did record 4 K.
These are two excellent additions for the Wolfpack in a pair of experienced players with the underlying stats that indicate their past success should carry over to the ACC.
