Nolden sets tone offensively, defensively for Hoosiers

OMAHA, Neb. — In the hallways of TD Ameritrade Park Saturday evening, sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka approached his good friend Will Nolden.

“It’s blowing up on ESPN!” Sujka told him. “You’re on SportsCenter! Your throw is the No. 2 play!”

“Really?” Nolden responded.

The throw that gave Nolden his 15 seconds of fame may have clinched IU’s victory against Louisville Saturday night.

In the bottom of the third, Louisville’s Sutton Whiting walked to advance to first.

Then he made it to second on a passed ball.

His next move around the bases wouldn’t be as easy.

With two outs, Cole Sturgeon recorded the first hit off of junior starting pitcher Joey DeNato, dropping the ball into short right field.

Whiting was waved home.

By the time he got there, sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber stood planted with the ball in his glove waiting for him in front of the plate.

Nolden had fired a dart from the outfield to beat Whiting.

“Will has a great arm,” senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. “We all know that, and I’m glad our opponents don’t yet. They try to test it as many times as possible, but that’s just a bad move. He has a great arm, a very strong arm, a very accurate arm, and it’s a weapon out there. When he gets the ball, and someone’s going home or third, or any other base, we know he’s going to make a play. Tonight he just made a great play.”

Cureton said he sees Nolden make plays similar to that routinely in practice.

“I just had that feeling that Will was going to put it on the money, and he did,” Cureton said. “When I see runners try to test that arm, I’m just shaking my head like ‘please don’t do it’ for their sake. But for our sake, I’m glad we have a weapon out there in right with such a monster arm.”

Louisville Coach Dan McDonnell said that with two outs, the team would be sending the runner from second “99 percent of the time” and wanted to try to capitalize off of DeNato, who hasn’t allowed an earned run to Louisville in 13 innings pitched this season.

Then he acknowledged Nolden and admitted it’s easy to second guess the
decision.

“That kid’s got a good arm and didn’t even risk a bounce,” McDonnell said. “He threw it in the air.”

Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth watched Whiting get the wave around. He said he knew then that the inning would be over.

“It was beautiful, a perfect throw,” he said. “Right when I saw them send the guy around third, I knew he was going to be out. It was a huge play for us.”
Nolden also provided the offensive spark for the Hoosiers. The leadoff man went 1-2 with a double, three walks and a run scored.

He started rallies in the first, third, seventh and ninth innings by reaching base.
In the first, he was thrown out trying to steal third, but eventually Schwarber scored on a single by sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.

“He was huge getting on in the first inning, setting the tone for us,” DeMuth said of Nolden. “It really helped. Anytime he can get on at the leadoff spot, he can run a little bit, and we’ve got Schwarber and Sam right behind him.”

When Sujka approached Nolden after the game, Sujka wasn’t surprised about the throw or the play, his expression instead stemming from ESPN finally noting
something his teammates have noticed all season long.

“Every time it’s hit to him,” DeMuth said, “I expect him to make a play.”