Softball Notes: Nebraska

LOOKING BACK
The University of Iowa softball team is coming off back-to-back wins. The Hawkeyes swept a pair of in-state showdowns this week, defeating Iowa State 7-2 on Tuesday in Ames, Iowa, before topping Northern Iowa 21-17 on Wednesday in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA
The No. 3 Cornhuskers enter the contest with a 37-6 overall record and a 17-1 mark in conference play. Head coach Rhonda Revelle is in her 34th season at the helm of her alma mater and holds a 1,215-702 career record. During her tenure, Revelle has led Nebraska to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances and three Women’s College World Series berths.

Nebraska is coming off a three-game series sweep of Minnesota and an 11-4 victory over Omaha on Tuesday night.

The Cornhuskers have three players with 40 or more RBIs on the season. Senior Jordyn Frahm is pulling double duty, leading the team in home runs (16), runs scored (45), innings pitched (118 2/3) and ERA (1.36). Frahm has also recorded 157 strikeouts and 42 RBIs and has earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season. In the circle, freshman Alexis Jensen has made an immediate impact in her first collegiate season, posting a team-best 166 strikeouts and a 2.73 ERA through 112 2/3 innings.

QUICK FACTS
• Serayah Neiss set a single-game career high with 9 1/3 innings pitched in Iowa’s 10-inning game against Washington.

• Iowa has already surpassed last season’s home run total (29), hitting 53 this year.

• Avery Sapp recorded her 200th career strikeout in the series opener against Illinois.

• Sophomore Kiara Sipe notched 10 RBIs in the series against Illinois.

•Freshman Braylen Conlon is the only Hawkeye pitcher this season to record a complete game shutout this season (March 14 at Illinois).

• Freshman McKenzie Leitgen’s eight home runs are the most by an Iowa freshman since 2009.

• Leah McAnally reached 100 career RBIs with a four-RBI performance on April 23 at Northern Iowa.

• Iowa has posted 15 multi-home run games this season, including two five-homer outings (March 17 at Illinois; April 4 at Oregon).

• Serayah Neiss earned her 50th career win in Iowa’s 2-1 victory over Georgia Tech.

• Echo Mattiello recorded her first career four-hit performance in Iowa’s 4-2 win over Indiana.

TWO HISTORICAL GAMES
Iowa has broken the program’s combined run record twice this season. The Hawkeyes first set the mark on March 13 with a 21-15 win over Illinois, totaling 36 runs, before surpassing it on April 23 with a 21-17 victory over Northern Iowa (38 total runs). Both contests now rank as the second-most runs scored by Iowa in a single game.

Against Illinois

• The total marked the most runs scored by Iowa in a Big Ten game, eclipsing the previous record of 19 set against Penn State in 1997.

Against Northern Iowa

• Iowa’s 23 hits were the most in a game since Feb. 18, 2012, when the Hawkeyes recorded 29 hits against Iowa State.

COMEBACK WARRIORS
• Eight of Iowa’s wins have come in come-from-behind fashion, including four walk-off victories.

• Iowa rallied from a 9-3 deficit against UConn. Trailing by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Kiara Sipe delivered a two-run double to secure a 10-9 victory.

• McKenzie Leitgen hit Iowa’s first grand slam of the season in the bottom of the seventh against Army, lifting the Hawkeyes to a 7-6 walk-off win over the Black Knights.

• Brianna Johnson recorded two game-winning hits in a four-game span. She led Iowa to a 3-2 victory over Minnesota before delivering a two-run double in the Hawkeyes’ 4-3 win against St. Thomas.

IN THE BOOKS
• Serayah Neiss leads Iowa with 71 strikeouts and is 8 away from 400 in her career. She ranks 11th all-time among Hawkeye pitchers and is 10th in career wins with 51.

• Tory Bennett is 12th in program history with 36 career doubles.

COMING IN HOT

• Tory Bennett entered the 2026 season with one career home run and now has nine.

• Through three seasons, Avery Jackson had recorded two career home runs and has five this year.

• Devin Simon doubled her 2025 home run total, going from three last season to six in 2026.

• McKenzie Leitgen, Tory Bennett, Brianna Johnson and Devin Simon have all recorded their first career multi-home run games in 2026.

LEADING THE WAY

• Devin Simon leads the team in hits (50), stolen bases (18) and runs scored (18).

• Serayah Neiss owns a team‑best 4.18 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 115 2/3 innings.

• Tory Bennett leads Iowa with nine home runs and ranks second with 37 runs scored. The senior is slashing .297/.371/.574.

• Junior Leah McAnally paces the Hawkeyes with 34 RBIs.

B1G NUMBERS

In the Big Ten Conference, Iowa ranks third in doubles (78), fifth in sacrifice flies (20) and fifth in stolen bases (46).

• Kiara Sipe ranks second in the conference with 15 doubles.

• Devin Simon’s 18 stolen bases rank her third in the Big Ten.

• Serayah Neiss has the ninth-most victories in the conference with 11.

• Leah McAnally is sixth in the Big Ten in runners caught stealing with seven.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Seven Hawkeyes softball players hail from Iowa, five from California, three from Arizona, two from Illinois, and one each from Utah, Massachusetts, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, Oregon and Ohio. The team also includes one international player from Australia. The roster is made up of five seniors, six juniors, four sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, eight freshmen and one redshirt freshman. Iowa returns 11 players from its 2025 roster, including 10 letterwinners, and welcomes 14 newcomers.

PLAYING THE BEST
The Hawkeyes face 10 teams that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, LSU, Mercer, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, Oregon, UConn and Washington

NEW YEAR, NEW STAFF
• Stacy May-Johnson, who is in her first season as Iowa’s head coach, brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience -- six as a head coach -- to the program. The Nevada native has posted a 148-141 record in stops at Utah Valley and Fresno State. Before returning to Iowa, May-Johnson was head coach at Fresno State for four seasons. She led the Bulldogs to 37 wins and a runner-up finish in the Mountain West Championship.

• Bobby Alvara joins the Hawkeye staff after serving as May-Johnson’s pitching coach at Fresno State. 

• Fran Strub joins the program after spending four seasons as an assistant coach at Boise State.

• Ally Miklesh joins the staff after one season as an assistant coach at Indiana.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns home Wednesday to host Northern Illinois at Bob Pearl Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT, with the game streaming on B1G+.

SEASON TICKETS 
Reserved chairback season tickets are $55. General admission season tickets are $40 for adults and $15 for youth. Single-game tickets are $10 for adults and $3 for youth.

Tickets are available at hawkeyesports.com/tickets, by calling 1-800-IA-HAWKS, or at the University of Iowa Athletics Ticket Office at the North entrance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.