Big Ten: No. 5 Purdue Eliminates No. 8 Iowa With 8-1 Win, Advances to Face No. 1 UCLA Tomorrow Afternoon

OMAHA, Neb. – Less than 24 hours after the Nos. 11 and 12 seeds played their way into the single-elimination bracket that begins tomorrow at the Big Ten Baseball Championship, one of the two highest-seeded teams remaining staved off elimination and advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals.

The fifth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers thumped the Iowa Hawkeyes 8-1 behind solid pitching from starter Austin Klug, who allowed one unearned run on three hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings, and lefty reliever Jarvis Evans, who allowed three hits and a walk over 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three.

With the win, Purdue advances into the single-elimination bracket, putting themselves three wins away from taking the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they will face No. 1 seed UCLA tomorrow at 3 p.m. EDT.

They also staved off having to sweat out the results of other conference tournaments and how those tournaments would affect their RPI ranking. The Boilermakers had dropped two places in the RPI since Sunday, falling from No. 54 to No. 56, putting them on the bubble for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. A loss to Iowa would likely have dropped their RPI further, putting them in a place where, if a number of teams outside of the top 64 in the RPI won conference tournaments and earned automatic bids, they could find themselves on the outside looking in when the field of 64 is announced on Monday.

After falling behind in the top of the fourth when Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Jaixen Frost, the Boilermakers scored three in the bottom of the inning, getting a two-run triple from Dylan Drake and a sac fly from Westin Boyle to make it 3-1.

They added three more in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a sacrifice bunt by Boyle that scored Drake from third, and then got a two-run double when Aaron Manias hit an opposite field double to the left field corner that scored Boyle and Drake.

Tomorrow’s game against UCLA, who’ve been the No. 1 team in the country in the various polls all year. will be their biggest test thus far this season, as they didn’t have UCLA on the schedule.

“Well, we got to just show up tomorrow and just be us. Don’t let the game or the moment be bigger than what we are,” said Purdue head coach Greg Goff. “Just stick together as a team. and play one inning at a time, one out at a time, and play the best 27 outs we can tomorrow against a really good team.”

Where to Watch – The entire 2026 Big Ten Baseball Championship will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and the games will also be available on the FOX Sports App.

2026 Big Ten Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
All games played at Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Nebraska

Tuesday, May 19
No. 12 Michigan State 8, No. 5 Purdue 4 – Game 1
No. 8 Iowa 10, No. 9 Illinois 6 – Game 2
No. 7 Michigan 10, No. 10 Rutgers 0 (Seven Innings) – Game 3
No. 11 Washington 8, No. 6 Ohio State 6 – Game 4

Wednesday, May 20
No. 5 Purdue 3, No. 9 Illinois 1 – Game 5
No. 6 Ohio State 3, No. 10 Rutgers 2 – Game 6
No. 12 Michigan State 4, No. 8 Iowa 3  – Game 7
No. 11 Washington 7, No. 7 Michigan 1 – Game 8

Thursday, May 21
No. 5 Purdue 8, No. 8 Iowa 1 – Game 9
7 p.m. – No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Michigan – Game 10

Friday, May 22
10 a.m. – No. 12 Michigan State 4 vs. No. 4 Southern California – Game 11
2 p.m. – No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 1 UCLA – Game 12
6 p.m. – Game 10 Winning Team vs. No. 2 Nebraska – Game 13
10 p.m. – No. 11 Washington vs. No. 3 Oregon – Game 14

Saturday, May 23
3 p.m. – Game 11 Winning Team vs. Game 12 Winning Team – Semifinal 1 – Game 15
7 p.m. – Game 13 Winning Team vs. Game 14 Winning Team – Semifinal 2 – Game 16

Sunday, May 24
3 p.m. EDT – Championship Game

Photo: Reliever Jarvis Evans allowed three hits and a walk over 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out three. (Courtesy of Purdue Sports)