Hey folks,
News from the home front: Andrew Means picked up another Big Ten Player of the Week honor, his second of the season. For those keeping score, this is the sixth overall weekly pickup for the Hoosiers (1 for Josh Phegley, 3 for Matt Bashore). Means is the only non-pitcher to grab two weekly honors this season.
Check back tomorrow, All-Big Ten selections are announced at noon CDT. Inside Pitch will have coverage of the picks. Until then, enjoy the release.
MEANS GARNERS SECOND WEEKLY HONORBLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior centerfielder Andrew Means has been named Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference announced today. The Avon Lake, Ohio, native hit .563 in helping the Hoosiers to a sweep of Michigan State to collect his second weekly honor in three weeks and the third of his career. Means is the only Big Ten player to be named Player of the Week twice this season.
In addition to Means' two honors, sophomore Josh Phegley has garnered one Player of the Week nod. Combining that with sophomore Matt Bashore's three Pitcher of the Week laurels, the Hoosiers have collected more weekly hardware than any other IU team since the weekly awards' inception in 1990.
Means had multiple-hit games in each of the four contests at Michigan State in leading the Hoosiers to a road sweep of the Spartans over the weekend. The junior hit .563 with a .938 slugging percentage and a .632 on-base percentage to lead IU in all three categories on the weekend.
The leadoff hitter scored nine runs in the series, including a career-high four in Friday's opener. He capped the weekend off with three hits and three runs in the series finale to push the Hoosiers into the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2003. Means had three triples on the weekend, including two in Saturday's game, to finish the season as the conference leader with eight three-baggers on the year. Means also had three steals on the week, two against the Spartans, without getting caught.
The centerfielder was also a standout defensively, making nine putouts and taking part in a pair of double plays. He finished off the first game on Friday by grabbing a liner to center and touching the bag at second for a rare 8-unassisted double play, and in game two he gunned down Kyle Day on a brilliant throw to the plate for an 8-2 DP to end the third inning and squash a Michigan State rally.
The Indiana baseball team has earned the No. 6 seed in the 2008 Big Ten Tournament and will take on No. 3 seed Penn State in the opening round, Wednesday at 3:35 p.m. EDT at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Hoosiers finished the regular season at 28-28 after registering their first Big Ten series sweep since 1999 against Northwestern.
