Tied in the top of the eighth, extra innings looked inevitable for the Terps and the Boilermakers.

Logan Hastings, fresh out of the bullpen, took the mound for Maryland and immediately found himself in trouble with a bases-loaded jam. Dylan Drake stepped up to the plate for the Boilermakers and drilled his first home run of 2026, beginning a late-game onslaught.

Maryland (10-7, 0-1) ultimately went on to lose its Big Ten opener 16-5 at the hands of Purdue (11-5, 2-2) Friday night at “The Bob.”

Wind gusts were high as the Terps opened up Big Ten play. After winning seven of the last nine games, the Terps returned to “The Bob,” where Maryland was undefeated in 2026 until this game.

It was a fast-paced start for both teams, as Purdue hit two doubles in the first inning and drove in a run. Maryland responded as Ty Kaunas reached first base on a fielder’s choice that brought home Brayden Martin. Purdue kept on applying the pressure in the second with a double by Brandon Rogers that brought home Jimmy Dionne. 

Maryland didn’t shy away, though, as Jordan Crosland homered to center field to tie the game. From there, the scoring slowed down. It was a scoreless third and fourth inning, until Aden Hill rocketed one to center field to give the Terps a two-run lead. The Terps offense went to sleep after that. 

Despite a lack of offensive production down the stretch, head coach Matt Swope couldn’t have asked for much more from his sophomore right-handed pitcher, Lance Williams.

Williams went seven innings, giving up four runs on 107 pitches. He struck out seven Boilermaker hitters.

Purdue slowly crawled its way back into the game with home runs by Rogers and Ross Highfill in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. Then, tied 4-4, Drake hit his grand slam to open the floodgates.

Swope went to his junior right-handed pitcher, Andrew Koshy, in the ninth.

Koshy retired nine straight in the Terps’ comeback against Troy and hadn’t given up a run since February 24. That changed this game. 

Ali Banks of Purdue took Koshy’s third pitch for a ride over the fence to extend the lead. Koshy thought he had seen the worst until Sam Flores cranked a two-run shot just over the fence. Purdue had grown its lead to 11-4 in the ninth. 

Swope let redshirt junior James Gladden take the mound to end the ninth, but after walking multiple batters and giving up a pair of hits, he gave up four runs. Purdue now had a 12-run lead. What was a close game up until the eighth inning took a turn for the worse for the Terps. 

In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, the Terps offense finally woke up as Aden Hill hit an RBI single to right field.

In a game where Maryland led through six innings, things turned upside down pretty quickly for the Terps. 

“You’re winning in the seventh, it’s as simple as that. You got to finish the game,” Swope said. “Winning the game in the seventh inning with your guys and the guys you have, you got to win the game, so it’s as simple as that.” 

The Terps will look for their first conference win in game two of the series Saturday. Daniel Stein and Peter Kelly have the call for MBN with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.