Iowa softball looks to rebound from last season’s disappointment, but will be without head coach Renee Gillispie
Team held annual media day event Tuesday
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – This past year year has been rough for members of the Iowa softball team, on and off the field.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a 2024 season in which they finished in last place in the Big Ten with a 6-17 conference record and they also failed to make the Big Ten Tournament despite hosting the event last May.
And then in December, it was announced that Iowa head coach Renee Gillispie would miss the entire 2025 season due to health reasons.
Third-year assistant coach Brian Levin has been promoted to interim head coach for the 2025 season and he addressed all the adversity at Iowa’s annual media day event on Tuesday.
“It’s been whirlwind,” Levin said. “We found out in mid-December, and of course our thoughts and prayers are with coach (Gillespie). It’s a tough thing I think she’s going through from a health standpoint. I hopes she gets all the help she needs.
“But I think in the mean time, we’re kind of just trying to keep the boat afloat and move it in the right direction.”
Levin made no excuses for why Iowa struggled last season.
“We’re not hiding the fact we didn’t have good year,” Levin said. “It just wasn’t what we expected and what we wanted. You just kind of move on from that. I would hope that puts a pretty big chip on the girls’ shoulders in terms of hosting a conference tournament and not playing in it. I think they’re hungry, they seem to be working really hard at what we’re trying to accomplish here. and hopefully, it pays off here in the next week or so.”
Iowa will face Kennesaw State in the season opener on Friday in Clearwater, Florida as part of the 2025 NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Hawkeyes will also play Tennessee on Friday.
Levin said even with Gillispie being out for the season, the daily approach will pretty much be the same.
“I think our job as a coaching staff is just try to produce an environment that is conducive to winning softball gams,” Levin said. “So, it really doesn’t change from a standpoint of whether you’re an interim or whether you’re a head coach. I think from a staff standpoint we’ve pretty much have been on the same sheet of music since I’ve been here.
“So, just trying to carry that on.”
Iowa certainly has some talented players for Levin to build around, including first-team All-Big Ten infielder Jena Young and pitcher Jalen Adams.
Young, who is from Winterset, led Iowa last season as a true freshman with 53 base hits and with a .455 on-base percentage. She also finished second in the team with a .373 batting average.
“I think it gave me a lot of confidence to know that all the work I’ve done over the course of my life has paid off and gotten me to this level,” Young said of her performance last season.
Adams led the Iowa pitchers last season with 30 appearances and with 159.2 innings pitched.
However, her record was just 9-14 despite having a 2.59 earned-run average.
“I think all of us collectively working in the same direction is what’s really going to take us far this year,” Adams said.
It would also help to have a healthy Rylie Moss, who was injured late in the 2024 season and still is recovering.
Moss led Iowa with a .390 batting average last season.
“It was a big loss for us and she’s still struggling with that lower leg injury,” Levin said. “Still going through therapy. That’s a big loss for us.
“There’s times when you just couldn’t get her out. So, that’s tough shoes to fill there for sure.”
Levin isn’t sure when Moss will return this season.
“It’s hard to say, that’s the trainer and her,” Levin said. “Kind of just hope for the best there and whenever they say she’s cleared to go, we go for it.
“But she’s a hard worker. She’s going to do everything she can to get back on the field.”
Iowa 2025 roster includes eight players from both Iowa and California, three from Arizona, and one each Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin.
Iowa also has one player from Australia on the current roster.
Iowa added three freshmen from California to this year’s roster, including infielder Brianna Johnson, who is from Sacramento.
“She’s doing really well, another really hard worker,” Levin said of Johnson, who is the daughter of former Major League baseball player Nick Johnson. “She comes from a good pedigree.”
Iowa played in a number of close games last season, but more times than not, came out on the short end.
Levin is trying to reverse that trend, partly by convincing the players that they’re so close to taking that next step.
“When you look at our conference losses, I want to say that seven of those were by one run.” Levin said. “So, if you look at it that way, we’re right there. You change a few of those games and it’s a different season.
“So, the expectation is to get into the conference tournament and do well in it. Our job as the coaching staff is to extend the season as long as we can.”