Logan Hastings could only do so much to help Maryland baseball avoid its first nonconference series sweep since 2020.
With the score tied at five and two men on base in the sixth inning, head coach Matt Swope turned to Hastings out of the bullpen to limit the damage. And he did just that, retiring the final two batters. Hastings was just getting started against Louisiana.
He continued to deal on the mound, cruising through the ensuing seven frames to push the game into extra innings. But the Terps’ bats couldn’t support the young right-hander, failing to retake their lead.
Once Hastings ran out of steam, the Raging Cajuns knocked in the game-winning run off Ryan Bailey. In its first 15-inning game since 1995, Maryland suffered its second walk-off defeat of the series, this time, 6-5.
Heading into the series finale, the Terps hoped to find some life after dropping each of the first two games: a defeat in walk-off fashion and a 9-1 loss that never saw the bats get going.
While Maryland put up a fight — the game lasted over four hours and 45 minutes, the third-longest in program history — it couldn’t do enough offensively to capitalize on Hastings’ dazzling relief appearance.
But early on, that was not the case. After scoring just once in their previous game, the Terps’ bats came back to life in the first inning.
Brayden Martin, who entered today with a team-high .400 batting average and 11 hits, roped a leadoff single. Ryan Costello stepped up to the plate and launched his fourth home run of the year to deep right center field for an early 2-0 Maryland lead..
The Raging Cajuns came storming back. After a scoreless first frame, Jake Yeager ran into trouble in the second inning.
Blaze Rodriguez drove an RBI single and Rigoberto Hernandez reached on an infield error to score Rodriguez. The damage continued, as Drew Markle scorched an RBI single and Maddox Mandino added an RBI double. That four-run inning gave Louisiana a two-run lead.
Following three consecutive scoreless innings, Ryan Costello launched his second home run of the game to right field in the sixth. Right after, David Mendez slapped a bomb to left to tie the score. These back-to-back homers gave the Terps some much-needed life.
“[Costello] is ultraconfident. He was a really highly touted player after high school and coming out of this weekend, he is gonna be ultraconfident,” Swope said.
Despite Yeager battling through three unearned runs, he finished with a good line. He went five innings, with an earned run and three punchouts on 76 pitches.
Brayden Ryan entered in relief following Maryland’s two-run sixth, and gave up an RBI double to Hernandez. That led to Hastings’ complete performance on the mound.
After posting five no-hit innings earlier in the season against UNC Wilmington, he was lights out once again. Hastings proceeded to throw 7 2/3 innings of dominant ball with seven strikeouts mixed in.
He allowed just three baserunners in his near eight-inning outing — the first of which came in the 11th frame. That run extended Hastings’ stretch to 10 ⅓ innings pitched without allowing a hit. Hastings easily escaped the limited traffic he faced.
Swope has voiced his confidence in Hastings all year and he has proved his worth, with 12 ⅔ scoreless innings to start 2026.
“Just an incredibly gutsy performance, that was incredible,” Swope said.
Bailey got out of the 14th inning scoreless, but gave up an RBI single to Rodriguez in the ensuing frame to score Stephen Spalitta. Rodriguez’s five-hit, two-RBI performance capped off Louisiana’s sweep of Maryland.
