Walk-Off Home Run Helps UNC Baseball Sweep Opening Series vs. Indiana

The Diamond Heels swept a Saturday doubleheader against Indiana at Boshamer Stadium Saturday, and in the process swept the three-game opening series against the Hoosiers.

Carolina ended the first game early via the 10-run rule, scoring three runs in the fifth, six in the sixth and two in the seventh to earn a 12-2 win. Erik Paulsen crushed UNC’s first home run of the season in the fifth as part of a five-RBI day, and UNC took advantage of an Indiana fielding error in the seventh to score the decisive 12th run. On the mound, Folger Boaz earned the win with five strong innings, while Walker McDuffie and Cameron Padgett each worked an inning in relief.

But while the first game ended early, the second would stretch late into the night. Indiana struck for an early run against UNC starter Ryan Lynch, but Carolina answered in the second with a Tyler Howe RBI single. The score remained tied at 1-1 until the seventh, when the Hoosiers worked a pair of two-out walks and then capitalized on a fielding error, scoring a pair of runs in the next at-bat.

UNC’s first two hitters reached on singles in the bottom of the ninth, and the Diamond Heels loaded the bases with two outs after Paulsen worked a five-pitch walk. That set the table for pinch hitter Lee Sowers, who worked a 2-1 count before hitting what appeared to be an easy groundout to second base. The Hoosiers’ Aiden Stewart fielded the grounder cleanly, but his throw to first base was well off the mark, allowing the game-tying runs to score.

Colin Hynek could not drive the winning run home in the next at bat, and the game went to extra innings.

UNC’s bullpen shut down the Hoosier bats in the 10th and 11th innings, allowing just one baserunner in seven at bats. Catcher Macon Winslow led off the bottom of the 11th for Carolina, and the Duke transfer crushed the fifth pitch of the at bat over the left-center field wall for a walk-off home run.

Tom Chmielewski earned the win with 1.1 innings out of the bullpen. Matthew Matthijs threw 32 pitches across 2.1 innings in his return to action after missing much of the 2025 season with an arm injury. Lynch lasted five innings and struck out six Hoosiers.

This is the second consecutive year UNC has opened the season with a three-game sweep of a power conference opponent, after the Diamond Heels swept Texas Tech at Boshamer Stadium in 2025. Now 3-0, Carolina will be back in action when it hosts Richmond in Chapel Hill Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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