Notes: Hawkeyes Open Season at NFCA Leadoff Classic

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa softball team travels to Clearwater, Florida, to kickoff its 2025 season at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Hawkeyes open with matchups against Kennesaw State and No. 6 Tennessee on Friday. Iowa will face Marshall and No. 13 Texas Tech on Saturday and No. 15 Missouri on Sunday.

WATCH AND FOLLOW LIVE
All five games will be streamed for free through the GameChanger app. Fans can follow along for live updates via Twitter @IowaSoftball.

LOOKING BACK
The University of Iowa softball team played 46 games in 2024 finishing with a 18-28 record, 6-17 in Big Ten play.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Eight Hawkeyes hail from Iowa and California, three from Arizona and one each from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin. Iowa has one international athlete from Australia. The roster was comprised of eight freshmen, six sophomores, seven juniors, and five seniors. There are 18 returning letterwinners and eight newcomers.

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
Head Coach Tripp MacKay is in his seventh season leading the Owls. Kennesaw State finished the 2024 season with a 16-37 record, finishing 9th in the ASUN. The Owls made the move the C-USA for the 2025 season.  The Owls top returning hitter is sophomore Ava Guzowski who started 46 games and hit .248 with 24 RBIs.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
Head Coach Karen Weekly is entering her 24th season at Tennessee. The Lady Vols are ranked sixth in the preseason poll and was picked to finish fourth in the SEC. Tennessee won the SEC in 2024 going 44-12 and 19-5 in conference. The Lady Vols hosted NCAA regionals and super regionals and fell in three games to Alabama in supers. Junior pitcher Karlyn Pickens have received numerous preseason honors after a 2024 All-American campaign. Senior McKenna Gibson earned preseason SEC honors and is the Lady Vols top offensive returner.

SCOUTING MARSHALL
Marshall alumni Morgan Zerkle enters her second season as head coach. The Herd returns 12 players from last year with 11 newcomers to the roster - including seven freshmen and four transfers. Among the returners include 2024 Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Brooklyn Ulrich. The redshirt-junior led the team with a .349 average in 2024. Ulrich and fellow-returnee Bella Gerlach co-led the SBC with 48 RBI last season. The Herd has been picked ninth in the SBC Preseason Poll.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
Head Coach Gerry Glasco in starting his first season at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders enter 2025 ranked 13th and are picked to finish second in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma State. Texas Tech boasts the top transfer class in the nation that includes 2024 National Player of the Year Nijaree Canady. Canady and Mihyia Davis were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team and USA Softball’s Player of the Year watchlist. Freshmen Bailey Lindemuth, Brenlee Gonzales, Hailey Toney and Samantha Lincoln were named to Softball America’s freshman watchlist.

SCOUTING MISSOURI
Head Coach Larissa Anderson is in her seventh season leading the Tigers. Missouri had a historic season in 2024 where it hosted and won regionals and fell short against Duke in supers. The Tigers return sophomore Abby Hay who hit .306 as a freshman with 23 RBIs. In the circle, Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann are Missouri’s top returning arms.

PLAYING THE BEST
The Hawkeyes are set to face eight different teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana Lafayette, Missouri, Penn State, Tennessee and UCLA.

RETURNING CORE
The Hawkeyes return a strong core to the roster who accounted for 66% of the team’s RBIs last season.

Amongst returners is first-team all Big Ten and all-freshman honoree, Jena Young. She finished second on the team with a .373 BA. in her freshman campaign and recorded a hit in all but 10 games. 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.

2024 NFCA Midwest all-Region honoree, Rylie Moss returns for her final season in the black and gold. Moss led the team with .390 batting average and started 39 games before a season-ending injury.

Jalen Adams threw 51% of innings last season for Iowa. She 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.

Soo-Jin Berry appeared in 36 games in 2024 and finished third on the team hitting .322. She led the team with 26 RBIs.

Adams, Berry and Young were named Big Ten Players to Watch for 2025.

STRONG IN THE CIRCLE
In 2024, Iowa pitchers had a staff ERA of 3.30, fifth in the Big Ten, and held hitters to a .266 BA against.

Jalen Adams threw 17 complete games on the season, tied for third most in the conference, including a no-hitter against Michigan State on March 29. 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. 

NEW ERA OF THE B1G
The Big Ten welcomed four new schools to the conference, three of which will compete in softball for the 2025 season. Big Ten  softball added NCAA tournament qualifiers Oregon, UCLA and Washington for softball. The Hawkeyes are set to host UCLA in their Big Ten home opener on March 22 in Iowa City.

UP NEXT
Iowa heads to Commerce, Texas Feb. 14-16 for the Lions Classic hosted by East Texas A&M. The Hawkeyes will face ETAMU, Abilene Christian and SIUE over three days at the John Cain Family Softball Complex.