Maryland baseball falls 10-8 to Purdue in offensive slugfest

Maryland baseball’s offense had been firing on all cylinders over the past week. 

So have opponents against the Terps’ pitching staff. 

The Terps (23-15, 6-4 Big Ten) fell to Purdue (19-18, 8-5 Big Ten) in a 10-8 offensive slugfest Friday night in College Park. The loss marked the 11th time this season Maryland has allowed double-digit runs in an outing, and its third time in the last four.

“They fought like heck,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “We ended up scoring five or six [late] to bring it within one, and had some tough at bats right there. It’s what you want to see.”

Maryland went down early in the top of the second after a sequence of defensive miscues. 

Junior middle infielders Kevin Keister and Matt Shaw both failed to come up with routine grounders with two outs, putting runners on first and second for the Boilermakers. Junior right-hander Jason Savacool walked the next batter, and fifth-year shortstop Evan Albrecht put Purdue on the board with an infield single on a slow roller that Shaw couldn’t come up with.

The Terps tied things even in the bottom of the second with a solo shot from senior left fielder Bobby Zmarzlak, but Purdue regained the lead in the third with a homer from its leadoff hitter, Mike Bolton Jr. The Boilermakers brought their lead to 3-1 when senior first baseman Jake Parr brought home a run on a single to centerfield. 

Maryland threatened in the bottom of the fourth, putting runners at the corners with two outs, but junior catcher Luke Shliger grounded out to second to end the scoring opportunity. 

Savacool started to show signs of fatigue in the sixth after two scoreless innings. 

Purdue’s first two batters hit back-to-back line drive singles, and a groundout to first put runners at second and third with only one out. The floodgates then opened. 

A double down the left field line from senior DH CJ Valdez scored both runners, and a single from the next batter ended Savacool’s night. The Terps then went to Logan Ott with runners at the corners and one out. The junior left-hander included a ground out in his first at bat, but the runner was stealing on the pitch, taking away the opportunity for a double play and allowing the run from third to score. Junior center fielder Couper Cornblum then singled, scoring the runner from second, before Ott got a flyout to get out of the jam. 

Sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian drove one over the fence in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 7-2, but Purdue responded again in the top of the seventh with a sequence of singles and walks to keep its lead at six. 

Maryland showed signs of life in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs for Shaw. Purdue reliever Aaron Suval wanted absolutely none of Shaw, walking him on five pitches to bring in a run. The Terps then proceeded to go on a furious rally.

Sophomore right fielder Ian Petrutz hit a two-run single, and Hacopian doubled to bring Maryland within two with runners at second and third and no outs. Petruz scored easily on an Elijah Lambros single into right, but Hacopian got a bad jump on contact and was thrown out at home, keeping the Terps behind by one, 8-7.

But just when it looked like the Terps had all the momentum, Purdue fought back. 

A double, hit by pitch, and back-to-back singles gave the Boilermakers two runs back to go up 10-7 in the top of the eighth. In the bottom half of the inning, Shaw picked up another walk, then scored on a gapper from Petrutz, bringing the Terps within two at 10-8, but Hacopian grounded out to end the inning. 

After a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, Maryland’s bottom of the order came up looking to make something happen. Lambros walked after a Zmarzlak strikeout and took second on a wild pitch to move into scoring position. But back-to-back flyouts ended the game.

“Until that last out’s made, they’re never out,” Vaughn said. “I didn’t see the end of the game, but it sounded like some loud contact in the end, just unfortunate. We hit some balls really hard early at people too.”