We're quickly coming up on crunch time for Hawkeye spring sports. As the regular seasons wind down, the Hawks continue to ramp up their performances, adding sweeps and school records to an already long list of 2025 season accomplishments.
There's a ton to cover, so let's dive right in.
Olympic Spotlight: Softball
Iowa softball (35-17, 15-7 Big Ten) closed out its regular season with a three-game sweep of Rutgers (20-36, 3-19) last weekend, beating the Scarlet Knights 4-3, 3-0, and 4-0. The Hawkeye softball team overcame a seemingly endless series of obstacles to show major improvement over last year's record and finished sixth in an increasingly competitive Big Ten.
Friday's opener was an exciting one, as Iowa won on a walk-off Rutgers error. The Scarlet Knights took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Hawks answered with three of their own in the bottom of the inning behind a Devin Simon three-run blast.
Rutgers tied the game with two in the sixth, but Jalen Adams was able to staunch the bleeding en route to her 19th complete game of the year. The Hawkeyes loaded the bases in the ninth and came away with the 4-3 win on the Rutgers error.
Friday's sixth inning rally for Rutgers would prove to be the end of their run scoring for the weekend, as the Hawkeyes dominated over the series final two games. On Saturday, Iowa allowed only four hits as they shut out Rutgers 3-0. The Hawks took the lead in the bottom of the first when Jena Young manufactured a run after reaching on a walk.
A wild pitch, fly out, and passed ball allowed Young to come all the way around and give Iowa a 1-0 lead. She would add to Iowa's lead in the second when Tory Bennett drove her in with an RBI double. Desiree Rivera was next up, driving in Bennett with an RBI single of her own to give Iowa a 3-0 lead.
Three runs was more than enough for Talia Tretton on the mound as she threw a complete game gem, striking out eight Scarlet Knights as Iowa earned the Senior Night win.
It was more of the same on Sunday for the Hawkeyes, as they again stymied Rutgers to close the season with a 4-0 win. Iowa's big inning came in the third, as the Hawks put together a three-run two-out rally to break the game open. Three walks loaded the bases for the Hawkeyes and a HBP gave Iowa a 1-0 lead. Soo-Jin Berry stepped up to the plate next and promptly deposited a ball into the right field corner, scoring two.
The Hawks added one more for good measure in the sixth, but Adams was again lights out on the mound, throwing her 20th complete game of the year and shutting out the Scarlet Knights.
Iowa's 15 conference wins on the year are the most since 2012 for the team, as is Iowa's five Big Ten series wins and four straight series victories. The team has won five games in a row and looks to be playing some of their best ball as they head into the Big Ten Tournament.
In a season that saw their head coach take a leave of absence and their interim coach fired, the season could easily have spiraled into disaster territory with low buy-in and a string of transfers as soon as the year was over. Instead, the group came together, playing for each other and putting together the best regular season in recent memory. The group has earned the 6-seed in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament and is ranked 48th in RPI, with a real shot at an NCAA tournament berth. It's a remarkable achievement and a testament to the resilience and attitude of this group.
They'll face 11th-seeded Penn State (24-26, 10-12 Big Ten), who they swept earlier in the season, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday (10:00 AM CT, BTN). If they win, they'll advance to take on 3-seed Nebraska (38-12, 17-5 Big Ten), who took two of three from the Hawkeyes in early April.
Track and Field
Iowa track and field had another banner weekend last week, setting two more school records among a slew of strong performances. The Hawks kicked off the Musco Twilight on Friday with a school and facility record in the men's hammer throw and a facility record in the men's javelin.
Ryan Johnson continued his electric debut season for Iowa, breaking his own school record and setting a facility record in the hammer throw with a 73.20m mark that gave him the event win by almost 6.50 meters. Johnson's mark ranks 7th in the NCAA this season. Sean Smith took 2nd for the Hawks (66.93m) and Austin Busch took 3rd (65.61m) to sweep the podium.
Mike Stein was Iowa's other big Friday performer, winning the men's javelin event with a 78.58m throw that set a facility record and ranks 3rd in the NCAA this season.
Iowa added another school record on Sunday when freshman Maria Arboleda broke her own school record in the women's high jump, setting a new facility record in the process. Arboleda's 1.88m jump is 5th best in the NCAA this year and gave her an easy event win.
The Hawkeyes were prolific winners on Sunday, taking home 18 event titles, including a meet record 23.21 200m run from Lia Love, a 2:05.39 PR in the 800m from Gabby Cortez that is 4th-best in school history, and a 13.06m triple jump from Jeanne Le Goff that is 4th-best in school history and 19th in the NCAA this season.
The Hawkeyes dominated their home meet, once again showcasing the breadth and depth of talent. It's not a new story, but it continues to be impressive watching so many underclassmen rewrite the record books so quickly on campus. The team is rounding into form at the perfect time as they continue to build towards the conference and NCAA championship meets. They'll finish their regular season next weekend at the Iowa State Classic.
Baseball
Iowa baseball (32-15, 21-6 Big Ten), dropped two of three to Washington (26-21, 15-9 g Ten) over the weekend, falling 4-3 and 3-1 before rebounding to take the finale 8-0. It was the Hawkeyes' first series loss of the year.
In the series opener, Iowa jumped out to an early lead when Andy Nelson hit a second-inning solo home run.
The Hawks doubled their lead in the fifth on a Gable Mitchell sac fly. After the Huskies tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, Iowa again pulled ahead on a Kooper Schulte RBI double. Cade Obermueller was effective but wild on the mound, striking out nine batters but walking five in the fifth inning. Still, the Hawkeyes carried their lead into the bottom of the seventh where Washington tied it up. In a bitter taste of their own medicine, the Huskies beat the Hawks on a ninth inning two-out RBI squeeze bunt.
There was a silver lining to Friday's loss, as Obermueller passed his father Wes on Iowa's all-time single-season strikeouts list. Cade's 92 punchouts this year is good for 8th-best in Iowa history.
Saturday's 3-1 loss was another tough one to swallow, as a ninth-inning walk-off burned Iowa again. Iowa went 1-for-20 with runners on base and 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the day. Washington took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Hawkeyes tied the game on a Reese Moore RBI double.
Aaron Savary was stellar on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings and fanning ten while allowing just one run. The Hawkeyes' struggles at the plate left no room for error and a walk-off two-run home run in the ninth gave Washington the 3-1 win.
The Hawkeyes have had their share of frustrating losses throughout the season, but this group has been exceptional and stopping the losses from snowballing into losing streaks. Sunday was another such case, as Iowa thumped the Huskies 8-0 in the series finale. The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth when Ben Wilmes kicked off the scoring with a solo home run.
Caleb Wulf added another for the Hawkeyes with an RBI in the sixth and the team added two more runs in each of the final three innings to take the finale 8-0. Reece Beuter added to Iowa's solid weekend on the mound, pitching seven scoreless innings and tying his career-high with eight strikeouts.
The Hawkeye pitching was great all weekend, but the offense just couldn't come up with the clutch hit. Still, the Hawkeyes battled, and came away with a win to keep their spot atop the Big Ten standings.
They're currently ranked 66th in RPI, but have a shot in the season's final weeks to put the doubters to rest. They'll travel to Des Moines for a huge three-game series against #10 Oregon State (34-12) and will host Oregon (33-18, 16-8) (24th in RPI) to close the season the weekend after.
Two more series wins would give the Hawkeyes a resume that would be hard for the selection committee to ignore, and likely the Big Ten Regular Season Championship. Even after a frustrating weekend, all of Iowa's goals are still well within reach as the team continues to put together an extraordinary season that has exceeded all expectations.
Tennis
#33 Iowa tennis fell 4-1 to #29 Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week, bringing their most successful season in a decade to an end.
The Hawks dropped the doubles point in a tough tiebreak, but quickly tied the match with a singles win on court six from Nikita Vishwase (6-2, 6-2). Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes weren't able to come out on top in any of the other singles matches, ultimately falling to the Yellow Jackets.
Even with the loss, the 2025 season was the best for the Hawkeyes in over a decade. The team was consistently ranked in the top-40 and qualified for the NCAA tournament, a feat not accomplished since 2010. The team's top two singles players will both return next year, as will many of the other contributors. It's been a steady rise for Iowa tennis and the future continues to look bright.
