Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once famously said, “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.”
Indiana baseball (0-3) learned that the hard way on opening weekend. After losing 9-4 to No. 11 North Carolina (3-0) Friday night, Jeff Mercer’s squad looked to get on the right track with a doubleheader Saturday against the Tar Heels.
Instead, a series of mental miscues led to Indiana being swept out of Chapel Hill. Fittingly, the Hoosiers decided to save the most improbable and unlikely error for last.
North Carolina had already clinched the series victory in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader with a run-rule victory, 12-2 in seven innings. For the second straight game, Indiana’s bullpen collapsed in the middle innings, and the Tar Heel bats lit up Hoosier relievers with nine runs in just three innings.
Six of those nine runs came in the bottom of the sixth. It was the second straight game the Hoosiers surrendered six runs in the bottom half of inning number six.
Indiana had already made its fair share of mental mistakes across its first 15 innings of baseball in 2026. Shortstop Cooper Malamazian, who only had eight errors in 55 games last season, has committed three errors already in the young season. The third of them put a merciful end to game one Saturday.
Hoosier pitchers plunked five North Carolina batters in the first game Saturday, one of which came with the bases loaded in the aforementioned bottom of the sixth, with reliever Kaden Jacobi being the guilty party. A wild pitch from Jacobi brought in another run later in the inning. The Tar Heels scored three runs over the weekend on wild pitches.
Indiana’s offense wasn’t much better. The high-powered Hoosier bats hit .154 across the series while leaving 23 runners on base. They made a fair share of baserunning mistakes as well. Hogan Denny was thrown out on the basepaths twice. Jake Hanley got too large of a lead off of second that turned into a line drive double play.
Game three started similarly to game one and game two. The first four innings went by relatively smoothly, it was 1-1 heading to the fifth.
Indiana finally found some life in their bullpen, as veteran right-hander Gavin Seebold was excellent in his 3.2 innings of work, only giving up one hit while fanning four. For the first time all series, Indiana escaped the fifth and six innings unscathed.
The bats finally came to life in the top of the seventh. After the first two batters were retired, T.J. Schuyler and Will Moore worked out walks before Hogan Denny reached on an error to load the bases. Malamazian then stepped up to the plate and came through with a two-RBI single up the middle to give the Hoosiers a 3-1 lead.
Fellow veteran reliever Jackson Yarberry picked up right where Seebold left off in the bottom of the seventh, as the righty set down four straight Tar Heels to send the game to the ninth inning with Indiana up by two runs.
But, the No. 11 team in the country wouldn’t go away easily. North Carolina began the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back hits. Yarberry didn’t get fazed, as he retired the next two batters and Indiana was one out away from salvaging the doubleheader.
A walk to Erik Paulsen loaded the bases for pinch hitter Lee Sowers. Yarberry jammed Sowers with a breaking ball, inducing a weak grounder to the right side where veteran second baseman Aiden Stewart was waiting.
All Stewart had to do was underhand the baseball to Jake Hanley and the game was over. You can never have a more routine play in your life.
In the unlikeliest (or, with the way the series went, likeliest) of events, Stewart spiked the throw into foul territory on the first base side, scoring two runs to tie the game at three.
Mercer pulled Stewart for a pinch hitter in the top of the eleventh, but by that point, the damage had already been done.
Tar Heel catcher Macon Winslow blasted one off the scoreboard in left-center field to win it for North Carolina in the bottom of the eleventh, 4-3. Instead of walking away with a split of the doubleheader, Indiana was blanked on opening weekend for the second straight season. The Hoosiers are now 0-3 to begin 2026.
Avoiding being swept by one of the best teams in the country in a true road series would’ve been a nice resume booster for Indiana down the road. Instead, they walk away from Chapel Hill empty-handed, and with a lot of things to clean up.
Indiana will return home to Bart Kaufman Field for a nonconference matchup with the Bradley Braves on Tuesday, Feb. 17. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
