THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team hosts the Minnesota Gophers in its last home three-game series at Bob Pearl Field starting Friday April 27. All games have a scheduled first pitch of 11 a.m. CT.
WATCH AND FOLLOW LIVE
All three games will be streamed on B1G+ and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Live stats will be available on hawkeyesports.com and updates will be available on X (@iowasoftball).
LAST TIME OUT
The Hawkeyes dropped a midweek doubleheader against Nebraska on Tuesday and have fallen in 11 straight games.
Junior Rylie Moss led the team with going 2-for-3 in both games. Senior Grace Banes went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs in game two.
Sophomore Jalen Adams pitched 8 1/3 innings in the doubleheader allowing four runs on seven hits. Freshman Jaylee Ojo started game two, allowing three runs in four innings of work.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Head Coach Piper Ritter is in her fourth season as the head coach at Minnesota. The Gophers enter the matchup with a record of 23-22, 9-8 in Big Ten. Minnesota sits tied in seventh place in the conference coming off of a series loss against Rutgers over the weekend. Returning all-Big Ten infielder Jess Oakland leads the Gophers in almost every offensive category. Six Gophers have started all 45 of Minnesota’s games.
GOPHERS STAT LEADERS
AVG – Jess Oakland (.448)
H – Jess Oakland (65)
HR – Jess Oakland (17)
RBI – Jess Oakland (49)
SB – Breezy Burnett (13)
ERA – Bri Enter (3.16)
SO – Bri Enter (67)
W – Bri Enter (12)
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.
SENIOR DAY
The Hawkeyes will honor their five seniors this weekend. The senior class consists of Grace Banes, Amber DeSena, Sammy Diaz, Maren Judisch and Brylee Klosterman. Iowa will also honor student manager Charli Patten.
B1G WEATHER
The Hawkeyes have had all but one Big Ten series changed due to weather. This past weekend against Indiana was the first series played as scheduled.
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 March 29, 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 2.47 ERA and has held hitters to a .253 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 .390. She is ranked sixth in the Big Ten for BA.
Freshman Jena Young is second on the team with a .347 BA. She ranks second on the team with 18 RBIs.
Sophomore Jalen Adams has a 2.47 ERA which is seventh in the conference. She has been Iowa’s go-to arm in the circle throwing 130.2 innings this season; 10th in the Big Ten. Junior Devyn Greer ranks eighth in the conference with a 2.54 ERA.
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 three Hawkeyes 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 3.25 ERA (5th in the B1G) and has held opposing hitters to a .261 batting average against. Sophomore Jalen Adams has thrown 15 complete games in 21 starts. In Big Ten play Adams is leading the way with three wins and a 2.56 ERA.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawkeyes are set to host the 2024 Big Ten Conference Tournament May 8-11. 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
Iowa heads to Cedar Falls for a midweek matchup against in-state rival Northern Iowa on Wednesday, May 1 at 5 p.m. CT.