Sports Briefs
Toole honored
Iowa senior shortstop Justin Toole was named Big Ten Player of the Week, conference officials announced on Monday.
Toole tallied four multi-hit games in the Hawkeyes’ six contests last week, batting a combined .440 with a .680 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage.
The last member of the Iowa baseball team to receive the Big Ten weekly honor was Wes Freie on March 3, 2008.
In Iowa’s 25-6 thumping of Tennessee-Martin on March 18, Toole managed four extra-base hits. Against Austin Peay the next day, Toole went 3-for-5 with a RBI in his team’s 10-3 win.
During the Hawkeyes’ home-opener against Western Illinois over this past weekend, the Council Bluffs native batted 2-for-4 with a run and a walk in the nightcap of the March 21 double-header, and he went 2-for-4 again with a double and a walk on Sunday.
“Moving Justin to leadoff gave an extra spark to our offense and definitely set a tone for us offensively last week,” Iowa head coach Jack Dahm said in a release. “Besides hitting well, Justin played solid defense and turned a lot of double plays this past week. His efforts definitely did help us win four games.”
— by Ryan Young
