Trailing by four in the bottom of the seventh, Rylen Stockton and Bud Coombs both doubled for the Terps to cut into the Boilermakers’ lead. Coombs scored on a wild pitch a few batters later, bringing Maryland even closer.

But Purdue (12-5, 3-2) shut the door in the eighth and ninth, snuffing out a potential Maryland (10-8, 0-2) comeback to hold onto an 8-6 win at “The Bob” on Saturday, clinching the series for the Boilermakers.

The game began with the teams trading runs in the first inning.

Purdue’s Ali Banks stole home on a failed pickoff play to go up 1-0, then David Mendez responded with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.

Then came the top of the second.

Maryland starter Evan Smith, making his first career start on Big Ten Plus, found himself in a bit of a jam in the inning. But, Smith appeared to limit the damage to just two runs after Ross Highfill hit a sacrifice fly and Aaron Manias clubbed an RBI single.

He forced Sam Flores to pop a ball up over the infield and it looked like the Terps could escape the bases loaded situation without too much of a hole to try and dig out of the rest of the game. But Colin Gibbs, back at third base in place of Jackson Sirois today, dropped the ball to plate another run for Purdue and keep the inning alive.

The Boilermakers didn’t think twice about capitalizing on the error.

Westin Boyle smacked a two-run double to left center field before CJ Richmond drove him in with a two-run home run to straightaway center.

Just like that, Purdue went up 8-1 with five unearned runs.

Smith would pitch one more inning, finishing his start with eight runs on seven hits, but only three runs earned. He struck out five Boilermaker hitters and walked two.

The Terps got a few runs back in the top of the third.

Ryan Costello drew a bases loaded walk, then Jordan Crosland hit an RBI single to keep the line moving for Coombs. Coombs brought home one more run on a sacrifice fly, cutting it down to 8-4.

Smith’s exited opened the door for a stellar relief outing from Brayden Ryan.

Maryland’s junior righty threw five shutout innings in relief, only giving up two hits to the Boilermakers. He recorded four K’s and didn’t walk a batter.

The Terps picked up two more runs in the seventh thanks to Stockton and Coombs, but the deficit was just a bit too big to overcome.

Maryland looks to avoid the series sweep in its Big Ten opener Sunday in College Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with Daniel Stein and Adam Lipman on the call for MBN.