Hoosiers win in walk-off fashion

The entire IU team was ready to vault over the side of the dugout and swarm its teammate.

In a game tied 0-0, junior centerfielder Tim O’Conner came to bat with two outs in the 10th inning. Junior right fielder Will Nolden was on second base after a stolen bag, ready to score the winning run.

To put the luck on O’Conner’s side, a majority of the team turned its caps inside out in a fashion known as a “rally cap.”

After fouling off two pitches with two strikes, O’Conner delivered.

He hit a ball over the first baseman’s head, landing just fair, which allowed Nolden to score. The team ran out of the dugout and jumped on O’Conner, creating a massive Hoosier dog pile.

“It was awesome,” O’Conner said. “I just kinda got mauled by all the guys. It was a good feeling.”

In a pitcher’s duel, IU (22-11, 8-1) was the first to draw blood in its matchup with Western Kentucky (19-18, 7-8 in the Sun Belt conference). O’Conner’s RBI was the only run of the day in the 1-0 victory, the first of the walk-off variety this season for IU.

O’Conner came into the game hitting just .172 in 64 at-bats. Even though the defensive specialist’s bat hasn’t been clicking this season, IU Coach Tracy Smith said he didn’t think of pinch-hitting for O’Conner.

If he didn’t come through and the game went to the 11th inning, Smith would need O’Conner’s glove in center field.

“Timmy is our best center fielder,” Smith said. “That was his game to win regardless. If we didn’t score, we were going to have to go out there and play defense.”

The IU pitching staff picked up the struggling offense, which only registered three hits on the day. Brian Korte, Thomas Belcher, Jake Kelzer and Scott Effross combined for the 10-inning shutout of the Hilltoppers.

Korte got the start and went five innings, giving up only six base runners. After Belcher threw 1.1 innings, 6-foot-7 freshman Jake Kelzer threw 2.2 innings of no-hit baseball. Kelzer — who began his IU athletic career on the swim team — struck out four batters in what he said was the best he has pitched all year.

“I was particularly pleased with Jake,” Smith said. “If he can be in the zone like that, that’s going to help us tremendously.”

Though the Hoosiers needed three pitchers to throw eight innings, the Hilltoppers needed just one.

Western Kentucky starter Ryan Thurston came into the game with a 4.50 ERA and allowed opponents to hit .258 off him. He was originally supposed to throw four or five innings, he said.

That plan was vacated when the Madison, Ind., native took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against one of the nation’s most prolific offenses.

The performance — which Thurston said was the best he’s pitched in his career — held extra weight for the freshman.

He and his father would make the 82-mile journey to Bloomington. He watched the Hoosiers have their best season in program history last year on the same field where he dominated the usually active IU bats Wednesday night.

“We showed velocity doesn’t have to get people out,” Thurston said. “I just kept it down.”

In the bottom of the ninth, preseason All-American catcher Kyle Schwarber broke up the no-hitter with a deep fly ball to right-center. The hit got the crowd at Bart Kaufman Field out of their seats, thinking it would be a walk-off homerun.

“Off the bat, I thought it was gone,” Thurston said.

The Hoosiers were unable to capitalize on Schwarber’s leadoff double in the ninth, forcing extra innings where O’Conner came through in the clutch.

As did the rally caps.

“We’re superstitious man,” Kelzer said with a smile.