OMAHA, Neb. — The No. 8-seeded University of Iowa baseball team fell to No. 5-seeded Purdue, 8-1, in an elimination game Thursday afternoon at the Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

Iowa got on the board first in the fourth inning as Jaixen Frost singled to plate Miles Risley.

It was all Purdue the rest of the way as the Boilermakers responded with three runs in the fourth inning before adding three more in the sixth, one in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Senior Kellen Strohmeyer led the Hawkeyes offensively, going 3-for-3 with a walk.

Austin Klug and Jarvis Evans combined on a six-hitter from the mound for Purdue (37-19). Dylan Drake was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to lead the Boilermakers.

Iowa reliever Brolan Frost took the loss, allowing two runs on no hits but two walks and a hit batter in one inning pitched.

The Hawkeyes’ season ends at 33-23.

“It says a lot about the group of guys we have,” said Iowa head coach Rick Heller. “After USC, it looked like we were dead in the water without a chance to make the tournament, but we found a way to right the ship and win a bunch of games to get here and even end up with a decent seed in a year when the league is really good.

“I’m really proud because there were plenty of times we could have packed it in, and they didn’t. They found ways. It wasn’t traditional a lot of the time. We pieced it together, and our offense did a great job carrying us. This was one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever coached. Just a great group of older players that wouldn’t let the program go backward, and that says a lot about those guys.”