Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2016-17 | Hawk Talk Monthly — May 2017 | B1G Baseball Tournament Central | 2017 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Bracket
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior Jake Adams has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for a second straight week and for the third time this season, the league office announced Monday.
Adams earned the distinction after hitting .353 with five home runs, eight RBIs, and five runs scored in leading the Hawkeyes to a 3-1 week. The five blasts gave Adams 24 home runs this season, breaking the Iowa single season record that had stood since 1986.
The South Dakota native had two two-home run games and homered in three of the four contests. He had a 1.235 slugging and a .455 on-base percentage. Adams finished the Big Ten season with 10 home runs to become the first Hawkeyes since 2008 to be the league’s home run champion.
Adams opened the week by going 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Iowa’s 9-8 come-from-behind victory over Omaha on May 16. He tied Iowa’s single season school record two days later, hitting a solo blast in the series-opening win at Illinois. His home run was the middle jack of a back-to-back-to-back home run attack with Mason McCoy and Robert Neustrom.
In the series finale in Champaign, Adams hit two more home runs to move him into a tie for the NCAA lead with 24 home runs (he is currently second, one behind Eastern Kentucky’s Ben Fisher). Adams finished the game 3-for-6 with four RBIs; it was his third multi-home run game of the season.
The Hawkeyes have earned six weekly Big Ten honors this season. Adams also was recognized as the Player of the Week on March 6 and May 15 and senior Mason McCoy earned the team’s first honor Feb. 27. Zach Daniels and Nick Gallagher were tabbed as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on March 27 and May 1, respectively.
Iowa (34-19) is the No. 5 seed in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes face fourth-seeded Maryland at 7:30 p.m. (CT) Wednesday in Bloomington, Indiana.
