A common trend in the disappointing 2025 season for Indiana baseball was the bullpen's struggles throughout the year. The hope entering the new year was to see some, if not most, of those struggles repaired.
In the season opener for Indiana, there were not many signs of those hopeful repairs.
The Hoosiers hit the road to start the 2026 campaign for a three-game series against preseason No. 11 North Carolina. The series marked the first meeting between the two programs.
It was a chaotic opening day of college baseball that saw numerous major upsets and exciting games. Indiana looked to follow suit and knock off the Tar Heels, who were picked to finish second in the ACC this year (one vote away from first).
All signs of a successful opener were there through the first four innings. Missouri graduate transfer pitcher Tony Neubeck was fantastic in his Hoosier debut, tossing four scoreless innings, striking out two, and holding the Tar Heels to just one hit.
The Indiana offense was unable to provide the starter any help, going scoreless and collecting just two hits through the opening five offensive half innings.
Once Neubeck was lifted for Coppin State graduate transfer pitcher Reagan Rivera, the energy inside Boshamer Stadium shifted. North Carolina started to look like one of the top teams in the country, and its confidence grew.
Rivera struggled in his 1.1 innings of work. He allowed three earned runs in the fifth inning after giving up a sacrifice fly and then eventually a two-run triple to Carolina junior Gavin Gallaher.
Indiana’s first runs of the season were picked up in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to sophomore outfielder Cole Decker, who knocked in two with a two-out single.
The sixth inning was not much kinder to Rivera. The right-hander was responsible for five earned runs and six runs in the frame. The run support that he had received in the inning prior was immediately erased and nullified.
The defense did no favors to help stop the bleeding either.
Sophomore Cooper Malamazian had a fielding error to start the sixth, and Decker lost a fly ball in the lights in left field that allowed two more Tar Heels to cross the plate. Four more runs eventually scored in the inning, expanding the North Carolina lead to 9-2 and leading to the final score of 9-4.
Head coach Jeff Mercer talked about how those mistakes cannot be made against a team of the caliber of North Carolina.
“We played good defense for the most part of the game,” Mercer said. “When you are playing against good teams, you have to play good defense all the time.”
Rivera’s stat line ended with 1.1 innings thrown, allowing seven hits, nine runs, with eight of those being earned, and being charged with the loss.
Despite Rivera’s early struggles, Mercer is confident about what the right-handed transfer can provide in the Hoosier bullpen this year.
“It’s his first time, Reagan is going to be very good for us … you bounce back, you learn a lot,” Mercer said postgame.
Indiana was able to tack on two late runs thanks to a two-out double from sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley to reduce the margin of defeat to five.
The bullpen had a rough start to the season, a continued trend many may be frustrated with, but managed to only use three arms, which should prove to be beneficial for the remainder of the series.
The Hoosiers have the opportunity to “bounce back and learn a lot,” as Mercer put it, from the season-opening loss with a doubleheader on Saturday against the same Tar Heel squad. First pitch of game one is set for noon.
