Morgan Colopy blacked out for the last 180 feet of his trip around the basepaths, unable to recollect spiking his helmet rounding third base. Colopy recalled seeing teammates leaping over the bullpen wall onto the field, but didn't notice his first home run this season clank off the left-field foul pole — the walk-off hit in Indiana baseball's 2-0 extra-innings victory over Iowa.
Saturday marked the Hoosiers' second walk-off victory this season. Indiana players stampeded from the dugout. Some flailed their arms; others leaped. Third-base coach Derek Simmons skipped toward home plate, tailing just behind Colopy. Applause and hollers from the well-sized Indiana crowd filled Bart Kaufman Field.
Colopy substituted into Saturday's game in the eighth inning, when the score was tied, 0-0. The redshirt junior has only started in eight of his 24 appearances this year, while not appearing at all in seven games. Head coach Jeff Mercer usually enters Colopy late into games as a defensive replacement. Before Saturday, Colopy had six hits in 36 at-bats.
During Colopy's first at-bat of the game in the eighth, the redshirt junior flew out to centerfield. Throughout the entire game, Iowa's pitching staff frequently threw sweeping cutters. Mercer told his right-handed hitters that they must correctly time their swings on fastballs — if they were early on cutters, that's fine, pull the ball and hit a home run.
"I was sick and tired of watching us trying to take breaking balls in the middle of the field," Mercer said postgame. "(Colopy) popped the same pitch up to centerfield. I told him if you get it again, homer it. I don't know if he remembers that or not. He got the same pitch, I just watched the replay, and he homered it."
Colopy has not appeared in the starting lineup since March 16. Mercer said that doesn't deter the outfielder from being the first player to arrive at the batting cages, and from staying late. The public doesn't see that. After Indiana's 5-3 comeback win over Bellarmine March 9, Colopy worked in the batting cages after the game, despite not receiving an at-bat. The next day, March 10, Colopy started and tallied the go-ahead hit in the team's 9-7 win.
"You would think he hits third and plays every day the way that he works and the way that he shows up," Mercer said. "I just have a ton of respect for him, a ton of respect for guys that work like that. I'm glad we won but I'm probably more happy on a personal level for him with the respect that I have for him."
Once Colopy entered to play right field, Indiana's starting right-fielder freshman Devin Taylor shifted over to play left field. In the top of the 10th inning, Iowa junior catcher Cade Moss doubled down the left-field line into the corner. Senior outfielder Brayden Frazier darted around the basepaths, trying to score from first base. Taylor sprinted to the ball and initiated the perfect relay throw that tagged Frazier out at the plate, keeping the game scoreless.
Sophomore starters Luke Sinnard for Indiana and Marcus Morgan for Iowa retired the first 19 batters combined in Saturday's pitchers' duel. Sinnard tossed six shutout innings in his best start of the year, striking out 12 batters. Just last weekend, Sinnard was handed his first loss of the season at Penn State. After allowing a two-out double in the sixth inning of Saturday's game, Sinnard struck out the last batter of the inning and clenched his forearms, yelling.
"I came to a realization that I may have gotten a little bit comfortable in the starting role," Sinnard said of Penn State. "I didn't go out there with as much fire as I needed to."
Indiana left-handed sophomore Ryan Kraft, who's pitched in high-leverage situations this season, tossed the final four shutout innings. Kraft has allowed just three runs in 30 innings.
Following Colopy's walk-off home run, Indiana evened the three-game home series 1-1. The Hoosiers have won their past four consecutive series, and will look to extend that streak to five in Sunday's rubber match. Right-handed junior Seti Manase can be expected to start.
Follow reporters Matthew Byrne (.@MatthewByrne1) and Nick Rodecap (.@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana baseball season.
