After suffering a 9-4 loss on opening day, Indiana baseball had two opportunities to bounce back on Saturday at No. 11 North Carolina. However, the Hoosiers fell 12-2 in seven innings in game one of the twin-bill and 4-3 in 11 innings in the nightcap, finishing the weekend still in search of their first win of 2026.
Game two was nearly a carbon copy of the series opener. In the bottom of the first, junior Erik Paulsen put North Carolina on the board early with an RBI single in what was his first of five RBIs during the game. Indiana sophomore Will Moore responded in the top of the third with an RBI double, tying the game 1-1.
Toledo transfer right-hander Jackson Bergman worked four innings in his Indiana debut, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out two Tar Heels. He was pulled with runners on first and second and nobody out in the bottom of the fifth inning, with the score still tied 1-1.
What followed was the first of several gut-wrenching moments for Indiana on Saturday. Head coach Jeff Mercer called on Northern Kentucky transfer Conner Linn in an attempt to escape trouble. The grad transfer right-hander allowed a three-run home run to Paulsen, his first batter faced, putting the Tar Heels ahead 4-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, Indiana’s Hogan Denny scored on a wild pitch, cutting North Carolina’s advantage to two runs. The Tar Heels ran away with the game in the following half inning, taking game one of the doubleheader to clinch the series in run-rule fashion.
In the series opener on Friday, North Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth after entering the frame with a slim one-run lead. In game two of the series, Indiana entered the bottom of the sixth down two runs, and North Carolina used another six-spot to open up a 10-2 lead.
Three Tar Heels runs scored on pitching mistakes – a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a wild pitch – all with the bases loaded. Two more runs scored following a triple from graduate senior Colin Hynek, and another as a result of an error by sophomore Cooper Malamazian. Only two of the six runs were scored as a result of the ball leaving the infield. Indiana needed three different pitchers to get through the bottom of the sixth.
After an RBI double from senior Rom Kellis V, North Carolina scored its final run of the game on Malamazian’s second error of the afternoon. With the mercy rule in effect, the Tar Heels took game two, 12-2, in seven innings. Malamazian, who posted a .945 fielding percentage as Indiana’s everyday shortstop last season, fielded at an .842 clip with three errors in Indiana’s three losses at North Carolina.
Game three, up until the very end, was a much more complete showing by Indiana. The pitching, which labored through games one and two, did its part in helping Indiana salvage the series finale. Sophomore lefty Brayton Thomas spanned three innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. Meanwhile, the right-handed trio of Gavin Seebold, Jackson Yarberry and Jacob Vogel combined to allow one earned run on five hits in seven innings of relief.
Unfortunately for Indiana, the pitching staff’s efforts alone did not get the job done. The Hoosiers built a 3-1 lead heading into the ninth inning, inching in front on a two-run single from Malamazian in the seventh inning. North Carolina’s lone run scored on a second-inning single from freshman Tyler Howe.
Indiana played a relatively clean game for the first 26 outs, but the 27th and final out proved elusive.
With two outs, the Tar Heels loaded the bases against Yarberry. In a 2-1 count, sophomore Lee Sowers grounded a ball to senior Delaware transfer Aiden Stewart, who fielded it cleanly but spiked the ball into the ground and allowed two runs to score, tying the game at three runs apiece.
Yarberry retired the next batter, stranding the winning run on third base and sending the game to extra innings. However, the Hoosiers’ bats went cold, and junior Macon Winslow hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning, completing the sweep for North Carolina with a final score of 4-3.
Afterwards, Denny offered words of encouragement in a reply on X.
“Aiden Stewart is a great player,” Denny said. “Dudes (sic) going to be a great baseball player. Sometimes things happen.”
Indiana was outscored 25-9 over 27 innings in Chapel Hill. Winning the series was a tall task, but being swept with the series finale slipping away is tough to stomach for any team. Ranked wins are hard to come by, and Saturday was a missed opportunity for the Hoosiers to bounce back from adversity and pick up a statement win early in the season.
Indiana returns to Bloomington for its home opener, hosting Bradley at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Field.
