Coming into their final games of the 2025 season, the 20-33 Scarlet Knights knew that their series against the Hawkeyes would be bittersweet. Departing seniors would be taking the field for the final time, while the majority of the team would be waiting nine months for the next opportunity to compete on the diamond. At 32-17 overall and 12-7 in the Big Ten Conference, the Iowa Hawkeyes were a formidable opponent, but the Knights looked to play the role of spoiler during the first weekend of May.
Game 1, Friday, May 2, 2025
Rutgers jumped out in front of Iowa in the first game of the series when senior Georgia Ingle’s RBI double scored Baileigh Burtis in the top of the second inning.
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However, the Knights would give it right back to the Hawkeyes when Devin Simon deposited a 2-2 pitch from RU starter Laurelai DePew over the right centerfield wall to give Iowa a 3-1 lead.
DePew was lifted in favor of Kelsey Hoekstra, who kept the Hawkeyes’ offense in check until L.A. Matthews was able to tie the game with a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning.
The Knights dodged a bullet in the bottom of the sixth when, after the Hawkeyes loaded the bases, Hoekstra was able to get the next batter to pop up to Ingle at first base, ending the threat. But Iowa would again load the bases in the bottom of the seventh. This time, however, an infield error by the Knights allowed the winning run to cross home plate as the Hawkeyes took the victory, 4-3.
Game 2, Saturday, May 3, 2025
Game two saw the Hawkeyes send freshman Talia Tretton to the circle while the Scarlet Knights gave the start to freshman strikeout phenomenon Ella Harrison.
Both pitchers gave opposing hitters fits, as Tretton threw a complete game shutout, surrendering just four hits while collecting eight strikeouts. Harrison, meanwhile, gave up only three hits in her six innings of work while fanning nine Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when, with two outs, Harrison got Hannah Lindsay to strike out, but when RU catcher Gaelen Kelly could not handle the pitch, Iowa’s Jena Young scampered home with the first run of the game.
The Hawkeyes would add two more in the third to go up 3-0, which would turn out to be the final score of the contest.
Game 3, Sunday, May 4, 2025
The Knights took the field on Star Wars Day hoping to salvage the third game of the series on the final Sunday of the season.
The game stayed at a 0-0 tie through two innings, but the Hawkeyes put together a rally in the third inning to establish control of the contest. Leading 1-0, the big blow came on an RBI double by Soo-Jin Berry that scored Desiree Rivera and Tory Bennett to put the Hawkeyes up by three.
Iowa pitcher Jalen Adams held the Scarlet Knights in check, as she went seven innings for her twentieth complete game of the season, and her fifth shutout this year. Harrison took the loss for Rutgers, which was her nineteenth of the 2025 campaign as the Hawkeyes completed the sweep of RU, 4-0.
At 3-19 in the conference, the Scarlet Knights will not qualify for the Big Ten Softball Tournament, which begins on May 7. The 12-team tournament is set up as a single-elimination format, where the top four teams in the conference earn a bye directly into the quarterfinals.
The young lineup for Rutgers showed flashes of brilliance this season, in what can only be termed a rebuilding year. The chapter is closed on the 2025 campaign, and now it remains to be seen if the 2026 Scarlet Knights can turn the page.
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