THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. April 12-14 to take on Michigan in a three-game series. The Hawkeyes will take on the Wolverines at 5 pm (CT) on Friday, 1 pm on Saturday, and Noon on Sunday at Alumni Field.
WATCH AND FOLLOW LIVE
All three games will be streamed on B1G+. Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and updates will be available on X (@iowasoftball).
LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes dropped a three-game series against Purdue this past weekend.
Freshman Jena Young led the Hawkeyes offensively hitting .400 with four hits, one home run and two RBIs.
The Hawkeyes pitching staff collected 16 strikeouts on the weekend. Junior Devyn Greer led Iowa with 7 strikeouts after her first appearance in the circle since March 9th.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Head Coach Bonnie Tholl is in her second season as head coach of the Wolverines. They enter their matchup with Iowa with a 26-14 record, 7-3 in Big Ten play. Sophomore Maddie Erickson leads Michigan offensively hitting .364 with nine double, eight home-runs, and 26 RBIs. The Wolverine pitching staff has a 2.66 ERA and has held opponents to a .227 BA against them. Lauren Derkowski has 11 wins on the season with a 2.05 ERA tallying 124 strikeouts.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
10 Hawkeyes hail from Iowa, seven from California, three from Arizona, two from Alabama and one each from Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. The roster is comprised of nine freshmen, seven sophomores, eight juniors, and three seniors. There are 18 returning letterwinners and nine newcomers.
PLAYING THE BEST
The Hawkeyes will face 10 different teams that made the 2023 NCAA Tournament: Harvard, Indiana, Liberty, LMU, Minnesota, NCCU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, SIU and Utah. The Utes are the lone team that the Hawkeyes will face who advanced to the 2023 WCWS.
ADAMS IS B1G TIME
Sophomore Jalen Adams was named Big Ten co-pitcher of the week on April 1st.
The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native picked up two complete game shutout victories in the series win over Michigan State. Adams threw her first career no-hitter on Friday, the 19th no-hitter in program history. She allowed just two baserunners and had two strikeouts in the, 4-0, victory. This is the first seven inning no-hitter for the Hawkeyes since the 2015 season when Shayla Starkenburg no hit Southern Utah on Feb. 7th.
Adams this season has a 2.01 ERA and has held hitters to a .234 batting average against.
B1G TIME STATS
Junior Rylie Moss is having a breakout season thus far. She has started every game in right field for Iowa and is hitting .372. She is ranked ninth in the Big Ten for BA.
Freshman Jena Young leads the team with a .374 BA and has reached base in the last 16 games. She ranks third on the team with 13 RBIs.
Sophomore Jalen Adams has a 2.01 ERA which is third in the conference. She has been Iowa’s go-to arm in the circle throwing 111.1 innings this season; eighth in the Big Ten. Adams has held opposing hitters to a .234 BA against (9th in B1G)
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The Hawkeyes had five athletes start every game thus far (Rylie Moss, Jena Young, Soo-Jin Berry, Sammy Diaz, and Grace Banes). Three of those student-athletes are hitting .300 or above and are the top three hitters on the team. Freshman Berry leads the team with 21 RBIs on the season. Young is the only Hawkeye to record a home run with three on the season.
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CIRCLE
Pitching coach Mandy Gardner helped improve the staff ERA tremendously in one season at Iowa. The Hawkeyes ERA dropped 2.46 points from 2022 to 2023.
To start the 2024 season the pitching staff has a 2.43 ERA (2nd in the B1G) and has held opposing hitters to a .240 batting average against. Sophomore Jalen Adams has thrown 14 complete games in 17 starts. In Big Ten play Adams is leading the way with three wins and a 1.18 ERA.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes are set to host the 2024 Big Ten Conference Tournament in May. The tournament returns to Iowa City for the first time since the 2003 season.
Iowa was picked to finish 11th in the in the conference by Softball America and 13th by D1 Softball.
UP NEXT
The University of Iowa softball team will head to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State in the 2024 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Tueday April 16. First pitch at the Cyclone Sports Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.