Ben Wilmes was destined to be a Hawkeye.

Growing up a mere two hours from Iowa City in Johnston, Wilmes quickly found his love for the Iowa baseball program thanks to some family ties.

“Luckily for me, I was able to experience Iowa a little earlier,” Wilmes said. “My cousin, Jake Yacinich, played here in 2013 — coach [Rick] Heller’s first years at Iowa. Every chance I got, I came up and watched him play and kind of fell in love before it was my time to come here.”

Flash-forward to 2025, and Wilmes has blossomed into a star for the Hawkeyes. The senior has earned playing time in all four years of his Iowa career, logging 20 or more starts in all four seasons while fine-tuning his game each year.

In his first season, Wilmes hit for a .234 average with 15 runs batted in through 33 appearances. Once his second year came around, Wilmes’ role with the team shot up, as he started 42 games and appeared in 51.

Wilmes improved his average to .247 and drove in 24 runs during his sophomore season, which included a national tournament appearance, something that goes down in the books as one of Wilmes’ favorite memories with the Hawkeyes.

“One of them would be playing in that regional in Terre Haute, Indiana, when I was a sophomore, which was really cool,” Wilmes said.

In his third season in 2024, Wilmes again increased his batting average from the previous year, hitting .273 through 48 games. Wilmes also tallied 25 runs batted in with five home runs during the season, which ended with a disappointing 31-23 mark.

Iowa’s 2025 campaign has been both a rebound for the program and for Wilmes, who has hit for a .302 average with a career-high seven homers through 47 games. The senior outfielder has also tallied 39 RBIs, also a career-high.

“I give most of the credit to my coaches,” Wilmes said. “Sticking with me and the plan for my growth as a baseball player, but at the same time, it comes from my family and helping them and helping myself be comfortable with the process, and trusting that it’ll turn out in the end. Every year I can play is a great year, so that’s how I look at it.”

As the landscape of college sports changes with the transfer portal, Wilmes has become a rare case of an athlete sticking with a program for all four years. As his final season in the Black and Gold nears its end, Wilmes reflects on what the program has meant to him.

“The Iowa baseball program over the last four years have really felt like home to me,” Wilmes said. “That’s why I stayed here for four years. Not many people do that these days, especially with the transfer portal and NIL that other schools may get.”

“The opportunity that I had at Iowa was just something really special to me,” Wilmes added. “And it felt like home, so I might as well stay there for four years.”

Wilmes plans to remain involved with baseball after his Hawkeye career, whether that’s on the field or from the dugout.

“Hopefully, I get picked up by a major league team, but if that doesn’t happen, I plan to become a coach,” Wilmes said. “Either college baseball or softball. Plan number one is to either get drafted or picked up as of now.”