IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa redshirt sophomore Kyle Huckstorf is a National Player of the Week honoree by Collegiate Baseball, it was announced Monday by the newspaper. The Hawkeyes are also ranked 30th in the latest Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.
Huckstorf, a native of Waterford, Wisconsin, earned the distinction after having a night for the ages on May 19 against Indiana. The outfielder finished 6-for-7 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in Iowa’s 30-16 victory.
In Iowa’s 10-run fourth inning, Huckstorf hit two three-run home runs and he followed with a fifth-inning grand slam. In the eighth, he lined a two-run single to right center field for his record-breaking hit and RBI total.
Huckstorf’s 12 RBIs set a Big Ten Conference record and his six hits tie the league mark for both all and conference-only games. He is the first player since 2010 to have six hits in a game. Iowa’s 30 runs in the victory were the program’s most ever scored in a league game and are the second-most all-time.
The team’s No. 30 national ranking is the first for the program since 2017 when the Hawkeyes were ranked 28th heading into NCAA Regional play in Houston. Collegiate Baseball’s poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.
Iowa opens Big Ten Tournament play Wednesday, facing sixth-seeded Penn State at 9 a.m. (CT) from Charles Schwab Field Omaha. The game will be televised on BTN.
