OMAHA, Neb. — The No. 8 seed University of Iowa baseball team fell to No. 12 seed Michigan State, 4-3, on Wednesday in the Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field.

“There were just so many things we didn’t do well tonight, both on offense and defense,” said Hawkeye head coach Rick Heller. “That’s the disappointing thing. We were very fortunate the game wasn’t 10-3. But what do you do? You regroup, go play tomorrow and hopefully we can clean it up.”

The Hawkeyes struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Miles Risley lifted a sacrifice fly to score Ben Swails, who led off with a single and stole second.

Michigan State scored solo runs in the second and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead.

Iowa regained the lead in the sixth inning behind a four-hit rally. Swails doubled to start the inning before Gable Mitchell drove him in with an RBI single. Mitchell later moved into scoring position and came home on a Jaixen Frost RBI single to give the Hawkeyes a 3-2 advantage.

Michigan State tied the game in the seventh inning, taking advantage of an Iowa error to even the score at 3-3.

The Spartans scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth after back-to-back hit batsmen by Kyle Alivo loaded the bases with one out. Ryan McKay followed with an infield single to plate the eventual game-winner.

Starting pitcher Joe Husak worked into the second inning for Iowa, allowing one run on two hits while issuing two walks before exiting. Justin Hackett came on in relief and logged 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run while working around three walks to keep the deficit at one.

Alivo provided a strong effort out of the bullpen but was tagged with the loss, tossing 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out seven.

Swails led Iowa at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Mitchell, Frost and Risley each recorded an RBI.

The Hawkeyes will face No. 5 seed Purdue in an elimination game Thursday at 2 p.m.