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Diamond Heels Sweep Hoosiers in Opener
The Diamond Heels opened the 2026 season with a series sweep starting Friday against the Indiana Hoosiers. This was the first time the two teams have ever played each other in a regular season series. Carolina beat the Hoosiers 9-4, 12-2, and 4-3 over Valentines Day weekend. Due to the weather, game 3 was moved from Sunday to Saturday, meaning this was the 2nd year in a row with a Valentines Day double header. This was exactly the kind of start you are looking for if you are Coach Forbes and the Diamond Heels.
Game 1
Game 1 on Friday saw Jason Decaro get the start for opening day for the Heels with a 9-4 win. Decaro tossed 5 scoreless innings, and picked up the win to boot. He only gave up 2 hits, no runs, 7 strikeouts, and 3 walks. Keep an eye on that, we will circle back to it later. The Heels got 2 thirds of an inning each from Cameron Padgett and Caden Glauber, 1 third from Walker McDuffie, and 2 and a third from Flannery.
The pitching staff combined to allow only 5 hits and 4 runs with 12 strikeouts on the day, but gave up 9 walks. Despite stranded runners being a bit of an issue last season, Carolina only stranded 3 in the season opener.
Game 2
Folger Boaz took the mound for the Diamond Heels for game 2 on Saturday, facing off against Indiana pitcher Jackson Bergman. Carolina opened the scoring thanks to an Erik Paulsen single in the first to put the Heels up 1. Indiana answered with a 1 run double in the 3rd, but the Heels responded with 3 runs in the 5th. The Hoosiers would add 1 more run in the 6th, and then the Tar Heels took over.
Carolina put up 6 runs in the 6th and 2 more in the 7th to force a run rule victory to secure the series win over Indiana. Boaz was credited with his first win of the season. Unlike Game 1, the Diamond Heels stranded 10 batters. These are metrics I will be highlighting all season.
Game 3
Would it really be Carolina Baseball if there wasn’t a little bit of drama? Ryan Lynch got the start as the Heels looked to secure the series sweep against the Hoosiers. The Hoosiers and Tar Heels each gave up a run across the first 2 innings, giving us a tie game until the 7th. Cooper Malamazian hit a 2 RBI single into shallow left to give the Hoosiers a 3-1 lead. Carolina would equalize with 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th due to one of the most egregious errors I have ever seen in baseball.
No one was able to score in the 10th, and then in the bottom of the 11th, former Duke Blue Devil Macon Winslow crushed a homer over the left center wall to walk off game 3 and sweep the Hoosiers for the first series win of 2026. Tom Chmielewski was credited with the win for Carolina.
Moving Forward
The Diamond Heels have won their opening series yet again, with the streak dating all the way back to 2015. The Carolina pitching staff tossed a great series as well, living up to the preseason hype. Across 3 games, the Tar Heels struck out an absurd 32 batters, good for just under 11 strikeouts per game. However, the offense might need some work. One of the biggest issues the Diamond Heels have had in recent years is stranding too many baserunners. Across the 3 game series, UNC stranded 28 runners, good for just over 9 per game. On top of that, the Heels allowed 17 walks across 3 games, good for just under 6 walks per game. Not great. While these aren’t a huge concerns this early in the season, it is absolutely something to look for.
Up next, the Diamond Heels host the Richmond Spiders at 4pm on Tuesday on ACCNX. The Spiders are 2-1 coming off a season-opening series win over the Monmouth Hawks. The Spiders scored at least 3 runs in each of those games. The Tar Heels then host Longwood on Wednesday before heading to The Jungle to take on East Carolina on Friday. See you at the Bosh on Tuesday!
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