March 23, 2009
IOWA CITY — The Big Ten office today announced that Justin Toole has been named Big Ten Player of the Week. This is the first time Toole has received the weekly conference honor.
Toole led the Hawkeyes to four wins last week, scoring nine runs while driving in six and raising his batting average 51 points to a .353 mark. The senior tallied four multi-hit games in six contests and racked up four extra-base hits, including a double and a homer in Iowa’s 25-6 rout over Tennessee-Martin on Wednesday. Against UTM, Toole also scored three runs and drove in three while drawing a walk and stealing a base. Against Austin Peay on Thursday, the shortstop recorded his second three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored as the Hawkeyes picked up a 10-3 win. The Council Bluffs, IA, native closed out the week with back-to-back two-hit performances against Western Illinois, going 2-for-4 with a run and a walk in the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader before going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, a double and a walk in the series finale on Sunday. For the week, Toole batted .440 with a .680 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage to combine for an OPS of 1.213.
“Moving Justin to leadoff gave an extra spark to our offense and definitely set a tone for us, offensively, last week,” said Head Coach Jack Dahm. “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 and he did an outstanding job.”
The last Hawkeye to receive the Big Ten weekly honor was Wes Freie on March 3, 2008.
Iowa (7-10) is slated to play Coe College Wednesday at Duane Banks Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.