THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team travels to West Lafayette, Ind. on April 5-7 to take on Purdue. The Hawkeyes will take on the Boilermakers at 4 pm (CT) on Friday, 1:00 pm (CT) on Saturday, and Noon (CT) on Sunday in Bittinger Stadium.
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 took a three-game series against Michigan State in their second B1G match up. Iowa secured game one and three after falling in game two.
Sophomore Tory Bennett led the Hawkeyes offensively hitting .667 with two RBIs. Freshman Jena young recorded three hits with a double and a triple in the series.
Sophomore Jalen Adams led the pitching staff for Iowa. Adams picked up Iowa’s first no hitter since 2021 in game one of the series. She finished the weekend with two wins and five strikeouts.
SCOUTING PURDUE
Head Coach Magali Frezzotti is in her second season with the Boilermakers. They enter the matchup with Iowa with a 14-18 record. Sophomore Sage Scarmardo leads Purdue offensively hitting .375 with four doubles and 13 RBIs. The Boilermaker pitching staff has a 5.37 ERA and has held opponents to a .277 BA against them. Kendall Klochack has three wins on the season with a 4.68 ERA tallying 31 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.
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 leading the team offensively hitting .376. She is ranked seventh in the Big Ten for BA.
Freshman Jena Young is second on the team with a .370 BA and has reached base in the last 13 games. She ranks third on the team with 11 RBIs.
Sophomore Jalen Adams has a 1.96 ERA which is fourth in the conference. She has been Iowa’s go-to arm in the circle throwing 103.2 innings this season; fourth in the Big Ten. Adams has held opposing hitters to a .237 BA against.
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 two 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 2.50 ERA (3rd in the B1G) and has held opposing hitters to a .241 batting average against. Sophomore Jalen Adams has thrown 13 complete games in 16 starts. In Big Ten play Adams is leading the way with three wins and a 0.75 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 heads to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the Michigan in a three-game series. The Hawkeyes take on the Wolverines April 12-14 at 5 p.m., 1 p.m. and Noon (CT).