IOWA CITY, Iowa — Two University of Iowa softball student-athletes earned postseason recognition by the Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday.
Senior outfielder Nia Carter was selected first-team All-Big Ten and also earned the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Freshman pitcher Jalen Adams was voted to the All-Freshman Team honoree.
Carter, a Rancho Cucamonga, California, native leads the conference in batting average (.479) and hits (92). She ranks second in the nation for hits and fourth in batting average. She was one of four Hawkeyes to start all 56 games this season, starting every game in right field. She led the team with 37 runs scored and a .523 on base percentage. She is the toughest batter to strikeout, statistically, in the Big Ten and is one of seven players who struck out less than eight times this year. Carter had a career-high five RBIs against Michigan State where she went 4-for-5.
Carter is currently tied for second for hits in a single season at Iowa with 92. She recorded 29 multi-hit games this season and had a hit in 46 out of 56 games. Carter ranks eighth at Iowa for career hits (228).
Adams, a Fort Dodge, Iowa, native leads the team with a 2.04 ERA. Her ERA is seventh best in the league. She appeared in 31 games with 26 starts. She threw eight complete games, including a complete game shutout against Syracuse on Feb. 18. Adams had a career-high 9.0 innings pitched in an extra-inning win over Central Arkansas. That same weekend, she had a career high seven strikeouts versus Omaha.
Carter is Iowa’s first, All-Big Ten First Team selection since Megan Blank in 2015. Adams is the third Hawkeye in three years to earn all-freshman accolades (Brylee Klosterman and Denali Loecker in 2021).