IU wins Big Ten with 4-3 walkoff victory

MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Schwarber veered off the basepath and was called out, but it didn’t matter.

There was just too much to celebrate.

Scott Donley hit a walk-off single to left-center with the bases loaded to beat Nebraska 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Target Field, giving IU its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 2009.

Schwarber was at second when Donley hit the gapper that scored Will Nolden from third and instantly sprinted toward Donley.

By rule, Schwarber was out for leaving the basepath, causing some momentary confusion. Thankfully for IU, the run counted, and the rest of the Hoosier dugout ran out to join Schwarber and Donley near second base in elation.

“It was awesome,” said sophomore first baseman Sam Travis, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “As soon as Donley hit the ball, I knew right away that we won the game and there’s not a better feeling than winning a championship.”

Already in position to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the IU baseball team (43-14) found a way to lock up a bid on its own one night after experiencing walk-off heartbreak at the expense of the Cornhuskers.

The title comes eight days after the Hoosiers captured their first outright Big Ten regular season title since 1932. It is the first time in program history IU has won both conference championships in the same season.  

“That did hurt last night,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “But you just regroup, and then it was like, ‘OK, they broke our hearts last night, lets break theirs tonight,’ so that was fun.”

Hours after the game, it was announced that IU will be one of 16 regional hosts for the NCAA tournament.

NCAA Tournament officials came away with a positive impression of brand new Bart Kaufman field after visiting the Hoosiers’ home field in mid-April.

Smith said his players are not simply happy to have made the NCAA Tournament. They are instead focused on advancing to Omaha, something they have been talking about all year.

“We think that we are (a) College World Series-caliber team,” senior shortstop Michael Basil said. “If we play our best baseball, we know we have all the talent to get there.”

Nolden led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to the gap in right-center off Nebraska right-hander Jeff Chestnut, who then issued an intentional walk to Schwarber.

Travis then twice failed to get down the bunt but drew a walk to load the bases and draw the Cornhuskers’ infield in, setting up Donley’s heroics.

A day after erasing a three-run deficit over the final four innings, the Cornhuskers (29-30) staged yet another late rally.

With IU up 3-1, Tanner Lubach doubled to to lead off the seventh but was caught off third two batters later when Bryan Peters hit a chopper back to the mound.

Pat Kelly cut the lead to 3-2 on an RBI single to center, a blooper that glanced of shortstop Michael Basil’s mitt as he dove backwards.

The Huskers tied the game in the 8th on a Lubach sac fly that scored Kash Kalkowski.

The Hoosiers had a strong effort on the mound from freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr (2-1), who went a career high nine innings and thew a career-high 127 pitches.

His complete game gave the Hoosier bullpen a much-needed breather. IU used four relievers in Saturday’s loss, and Smith said he wanted to save his bullpen arms for the postseason.

“I knew there was nobody warming up or anything, so I was excited to get that chance to finish the game,” said Coursen-Carr, who allowed three earned runs on eight hits. “I was just exhausted, but it was fun.”

IU got on the board first in the third inning when Travis doubled off the wall in right to score senior center field Justin Cureton.

Travis hit .563 (9-16) with two home runs, three doubles and a tournament-high 8 RBI in four tournament games. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Coursen-Carr, sophomore right-hander Aaron Slegers, Schwarber, Travis, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and junior outfielder Casey Smith.

Nebraska tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth on an RBI single by Kelly that scored Peters, who led off the inning with a triple.

The Hoosiers scored two runs in the sixth on a DeMuth RBI ground ball and a sac fly to left by pinch-hitter Ricky Alfonso.