THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team travels to Iowa State for a midweek matchup on Tuesday at the Cyclone Sports Complex at 4 p.m. CT. This is the final matchup of the 2023-24 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
WATCH AND FOLLOW ALONG
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on Hawkeyes Sports Radio with John Leo on the call. Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and updates will be available on X (@iowasoftball).
IOWA CORN CY-HAWK SERIES
The Cy-Hawk Series is in its 19th season in 2023-24 and is sponsored for the 12th time by Iowa Corn.
Iowa State won the 2022-23 series, 17-8, and now leads the all-time series is now 9-8-1. Iowa leads the 2023-24 series, 15-8, following wins in women’s soccer, football, wrestling, women’s basketball, swim and dive, tennis and gymnastics.
The Cy-Hawk softball series is sitting at 9-8-1, Iowa St. The Hawkeyes won the first meeting in 2005. Iowa State has won the last four matchups.
The series awards two points(except football, which is worth three) to the winning school in each head-to-head match-up between the two institutions. Additionally, one point is awarded to an institution if the graduation rate of its student-athletes is greater than the national average as reported each fall by the NCAA.
SCOUTING IOWA STATE
Head Coach Jamie Pinkerton is in his seventh season as head coach of the Cyclones. They enter their matchup with Iowa with a 16-22 record, 5-10 in conference play. They are coming off of a series win over No. 5 Oklahoma State. Junior Angelina Allen leads Iowa State offensively hitting .442 with 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 35 RBIs. The Cyclone pitching staff has a 5.26 ERA and has held opponents to a .309 BA against them. Senior Karlie Charles has a 4.01 ERA with 28 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 2.45 ERA and has held hitters to a .249 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 leads the team hitting .383. She is ranked ninth in the Big Ten for BA.
Freshman Jena Young is second on the team with a .373 BA and has reached base in the last 18 games. She ranks second on the team with 17 RBIs.
Junior Devyn Greer ranks third in the conference with a 2.31 ERA. Sophomore Jalen Adams has a 2.45 ERA which is sixth in the conference. She has been Iowa’s go-to arm in the circle throwing 117.1 innings this season; 10th in the Big Ten.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The Hawkeyes had four athletes start every game thus far (Rylie Moss, Jena Young, Sammy Diaz, and Grace Banes). Two of those student-athletes are hitting .300 or above and are the top two hitters on the team. Freshman Soo-Jin Berry leads the team with 25 RBIs on the season and had started every game until game three of the Michigan series. Young is one of two Hawkeye to record a home run and has four 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.
In 2024, the pitching staff has a 2.85 ERA (3rd in the B1G) and has held opposing hitters to a .251 batting average against. Sophomore Jalen Adams has thrown 14 complete games in 18 starts. In Big Ten play Adams is leading the way with three wins and a 2.52 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 returns home this weekend as they host Indiana in a three game series at Bob Pearl Field. The Hawkeyes take on the Hoosiers April 19-21 at 5 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. CT.