COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Junior Hunter Parsons tossed eight strong innings, but Maryland gave up its lead and fell, 4-3, in 11 innings to Purdue at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Terrapins (16-21, 3-7 Big Ten) grabbed the lead with two runs in the first and ended up leading 3-2 after eight before Jacson McGowan homered off junior John Murphy in the ninth to tie the game. In the 11th, McGowan homered off senior Kevin Biondic, a run that proved to be the difference.
In the bottom half of the first, junior AJ Lee reached on an error before heading to second on Biondic's single. Will Watson then shot a single into left field to score Lee. Senior Zach Jancarski followed with a double to plate Biondic and make the score 2-0.
Parsons worked around single runs in the third and fifth and struck out three over eight innings of work. After working without his best stuff in the first few innings, the Fruitland, Md., native came on strong, facing the minimum in his last three frames on the hill.
The Terps broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh when junior Nick Dunn legged out an infield single and Tommy Gardiner came around to score from second. Murphy entered to close the game in the ninth, but McGowan led off the inning with a home run. After Murphy allowed a double, Biondic entered and kept the game tied.
Maryland put runners on in the bottom of the ninth and tenth, but could not bring any runs across. McGowan took Biondic deep on 1-1 pitch in the 11th to win the game.
Dunn finished with three hits while Biondic notched two.
Maryland returns to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Fans can follow the action live on BTN Plus or the Maryland Baseball Network.
