THIS SEASON
The University of Iowa softball team played 46 games this season finishing with a record of 18-28 and 6-17 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes missed the cut for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament finishing the season in 14th place. Junior Rylie Moss finished sixth in the conference hitting .390 on the season.
BIG TEN AWARDS
Three student-athletes earned postseason recognition by the Big Ten conference.
Freshman infielder Jena Young earned first team all-Big Ten and all-freshman honors. Junior outfielder Rylie Moss earned second team honors and senior Sammy Diaz was selected to the all-defensive team and earned the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Iowa has had first team honorees in back-to-back seasons for the first time since Megan Blank in 2014-15. Young is the fourth Hawkeye in four years to earn all-freshman accolades (Jalen Adams in 2023, Brylee Klosterman and Denali Loecker in 2021). Diaz is the first Hawkeye since Cheyenne Pratt in 2017 to earn all-defensive honors.
NFCA MIDWEST ALL-REGION
Moss also earned NFCA Midwest third-team All-Region honors. The Hawkeyes have had all-region honorees in the past four seasons. Moss is the third Hawkeye to earn third-team honors (Holly Hoffman in 2016 and Tatianna Roman in 2023).
EVERYDAY STARTERS
The Hawkeyes had three student-athletes who started all 46 games this season. Young finished second on the team hitting .373 and started every game in the middle infield for Iowa. Diaz started every game at first base and led the team with a .990 fielding percentage. Senior Grace Banes started every game in centerfield after playing infield for her first three seasons.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Iowa faced six teams in 2024 that made the NCAA tournament; Southern Illinois, St. Mary’s, Michigan, Utah, Indiana and Liberty. The Hawkeyes went 2-8 in those games.
ADAMS WITH THE NO-NO
Sophomore Jalen Adams was named Big Ten co-pitcher of the week on April 1st.
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 was the first seven inning no-hitter for the Hawkeyes since the 2015 season when Shayla Starkenburg no hit Southern Utah on Feb. 7th. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native picked up two complete game shutout victories in the series win over Michigan State.
Adams finished the season with a 2.59 ERA and held hitters to a .258 batting average against.
UNDERCLASSMEN SHINED
Freshman Jena Young finished second on the team with a .373 BA. n her freshman campaign she recorded a hit in all but 10 games and did not go longer than two games without recording a hit. Young led all freshman in the Big Ten in batting average. She is the toughest batter to strikeout, statistically in the Big Ten, and struck out the least (5) number of times amongst starters in the conference. Young led the Hawkeyes with four home runs and 15 multi-hit games including a career-high 4-for-4 against Minnesota.
Sophomore Jalen Adams finished sixth in the conference with a 2.59 ERA. She was Iowa’s go-to arm in the circle throwing 159 2/3 innings this season; ninth in the Big Ten. In conference play she is ranked fourth with a 2.64 ERA.
Freshman Soo-Jin Berry has appeared in 36 games for the Hawkeyes and finished third on the team hitting .322. She leads the team with 26 RBIs.
STRONG IN THE CIRCLE
Pitching coach Mandy Gardner continued to improve the pitching staff in year two with the Hawkeyes. In 2024, Iowa pitchers had a staff ERA of 3.30, fifth in the Big Ten, and held hitters to a .266 BA against.
Sophomore Jalen Adams threw 17 complete games on the season, tied for third most in the conference. Freshman Jaylee Ojo finished second in the Big Ten for K/7 with 8.6. and sixth for BA against holding hitters to a .223 BA.
SAYING GOODBYE TO THE CLASS OF 2024
The Hawkeyes graduated five seniors in 2024. Four of the five seniors spent all four years as a Hawkeye; Grace Banes, Amber DeSena, Sammy Diaz and Brylee Klosterman. Iowa native, Maren Judisch, spent her final two seasons in the black and gold after starting her collegiate career at Baylor. All five seniors appeared in a combined 617 games for Iowa.
GOODBYE TO THE B1G AS WE KNOW IT
As of July 1, the Big Ten welcomes four new schools to the conference, three of which will compete in softball for the 2025 season. The Big Ten adds NCAA tournament qualifiers Oregon, UCLA and Washington for softball.
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 was comprised of nine freshmen, seven sophomores, eight juniors, and three seniors. There were 18 returning letterwinners and nine newcomers.