He bounced a slow grounder to second base for a potential game-ending double play. Notre Dame’s second baseman fielded it and flipped to the shortstop, Lane Richards, who was covering second for the second out of the inning.
But then things got crazy, IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. IU senior Chris Sujka, who started the play on third base, had already crossed home plate.
But then Richards’ throw was low to Zak Kutsulis at first base, and the ball got away. IU senior Scott Donley saw this and bolted home.
Kutsulis corralled the loose ball and flipped it toward home plate, but wide, allowing Donley to slide home safely and tie the game.
Every IU player was crammed at the entrance of the dugout, some spilling onto Victory Field, to greet Sujka and Donley.
“It was the right call, it was the right play,” Lemonis said of Donley’s decision to try for home. “It was just nice to see him score there.”
Donley said he was running hard as soon as the ball was hit. Once he got to third, he looked and saw the throw was going to be low. He started creeping toward home.
Then the ball got by the first baseman, signaling Donley to start his dash toward the plate.
Had the flip from Kutsulis been on target, Donley would have been out by ?10 feet.
The next batter, freshman Isaiah Pastuer, also just managed to put the ball in play and forced the defense to make a play. He bounced a 0-2 pitch slowly to the shortstop. Pasteur, one of the fastest Hoosiers, raced to first. If he didn’t beat the throw, the game would go into extra ?innings.
The throw beat Pastuer. But, the throw was high. It was the second error of the inning and the fifth of the game for the Fighting Irish.
Nolden, who had moved to second during the previous play’s confusion, saw this and took off toward the plate.
“Honestly, off the bat I was thinking I was going to score until my coach held me a little bit,” Nolden said. “And then you see that throw, and you take off for home and celebrate from there.”
Nolden beat the throw home in plenty of time and immediately turned to first base, where he saw Pasteur beating his chest repeatedly and triumphantly.
The Hoosiers had just beaten Notre Dame 6-5 to break a four-game losing streak thanks to IU’s risky decisions on the bases and Notre Dame’s inability to make routine plays.
The first risky decision of the ninth inning was made by Sujka, who scored the first and most tame run of the ?inning.
With runners on first and second with no outs, the catcher threw to second. Sujka appeared to have drifted too far off the base, but instead of scampering to his left, he accelerated to his right toward third base.
The throw to third was a little off target, allowing Sujka to slide head first safely into third base.
“As you saw in that last inning, you put pressure on the defense and put the ball in play, it puts pressure on the defense because they have to make a play,” Donley said. “We were just able to capitalize on that.”
