Iowa Hawkeyes star Sydney Affolter and BF Brennan Dorighi

Iowa Hawkeyes star Sydney Affolter and her boyfriend Brennen Dorighi have been one of the most visible couples in college sports, regularly posting pictures and videos of each other on social media. The pair started dating last year when Dorighi joined the Hawkeyes baseball team.

Affolter shared snaps of herself and her boyfriend in an Instagram post celebrating his birthday with throwback pictures.

“Happy bday to my person❤️❤️love doing life with you B:),” she wrote.

Who is Brennen Dorighi?

Brennen Dorighi starred for the Wofford Terriers for four years as a hitter, being named an all-Southern Conference in 2022 after a season where he had a .339 batting average, including nine home runs.

Due to the absence of a graduate school program at Wofford after graduating with a degree in finance and accounting, he entered the transfer portal and transferred to the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2022, where he met his girlfriend, Sydney Affolter, who played for the women’s basketball team.

“I entered the portal at the end of the year, and I didn’t have a clear-cut plan yet,” Dorighi said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “It wasn’t like I was searching to go to Iowa. But after talking with a bunch of the coaches and players, it just checked too many boxes. It was too good of a fit for me not to come here.”

Iowa Hawkeyes baseball coach Rick Heller was full of praise for Brennen Dorighi after he started Iowa’s first 34 games, during which he had a batting average of .333 including 5 home runs and 31 RBIs.

As the sole graduate student-athlete on the team, Dorighi immediately slotted into a leadership position, lending his experience to his younger teammates.

“I think a big reason why we’re able to show up is his (Dorighi’s) maturity and what he brings to the table. I really do,” Rick Heller said. “I was just talking to (assistant coaches) about how lucky we are that he is here, and how glad we are that we have him. Because that’s what you see from a guy like that, that has that kind of leadership and maturity. A professional approach to the game.

“He’s quiet, he’s confident, and that rubs off on people.”

Brennen Dorighi exhausted his last year of eligibility in college baseball in 2023, leading the team in RBIs (67) and home runs (15) as the team captain. He was named Second-Team All-Big Ten.

Dorighi’s relationship with Sydney Affolter also seems to be thriving a year after they met.