With two outs, a 2–1 count and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Indiana baseball was one routine ground ball away from a statement win.
Clinging to a 3–1 lead over 11th-ranked University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Hoosiers watched as the ball rolled harmlessly toward senior second baseman Aiden Stewart. It was the kind of play that ends games and sparks celebrations.
Stewart took a quick shuffle to his left and gathered it cleanly, his momentum already carrying him toward first base. The throw was routine; one he’s made countless times.
But as he reared back to sling it across the diamond, the ball slipped from his hand.
The throw still came, but it never had a chance. It traveled only halfway to sophomore first baseman Jake Hanley before skipping past him into foul territory.
In an instant, two runs crossed the plate to tie the game.
What should have been a defining win dissolved into disbelief, flipping into heartbreak and new life for North Carolina when Indiana had been a single out away from sealing its first victory of the season.
North Carolina went on to win 4–3 in 11 innings in the series finale, completing a sweep over Indiana in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Facing a team of North Carolina’s caliber, fielding mistakes are simply not an option. Indiana committed five errors in the series, leaving Chapel Hill winless.
The first of those mistakes proved just as costly. In the first game of the series, a misplayed ball in the field opened the door for North Carolina to string together extra-base hits and break the game open, turning what had been could have been a manageable inning into crooked numbers on the scoreboard with a six-run 6th inning.
The Hoosiers, facing one of the country’s strongest pitching staffs, were unable to recover, losing the first of three games.
“You’re not saving them by not exposing them early on,” Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said in a press conference Feb. 4. “By going and doing it, they’ve seen it. They’ll come through it. And when you leave there, you’re a better team for it.”
Three of the errors came off the glove of sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian, one in the first game and two more in the second.
Known as much for his reliability in the field as for the strides he’s made at the plate, Malamazian had been a pillar on the left side of the infield last season. He committed just eight errors across 145 chances last season.
Leaving the weekend 0–3, and in the fashion it unfolded, is a brutal start for a Hoosier team already carrying outside skepticism after falling short of the College World Series last season, despite qualifying the two years prior.
But with a devastating loss also comes a simple truth. Tomorrow is a new day.
Hoosier fans have heard that sentiment recently, often in a far more joyful context. Head football coach Curt Cignetti delivered a similar message through a stern face following blowout victories in which his team appeared to have little left to fix. The meaning, however, applies just as much in defeat as it does in dominance.
For Indiana, the page turns quickly. While the sting lingers, the mistakes are dissected, and the lessons are learned, but the season is far from defined in mid-February.
The Hoosiers return home to take on Bradley University at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
