ROSEMONT, Ill. – Freshman pitcher Jason Savacool and senior catcher Justin Vought were both named to the Big Ten Team of the Week in a release made by the conference offices Tuesday. Savacool was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, while Vought was named the conference's Player of the Week.
Savacool garnered his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor after one of his best outings in which he tossed 8 1/3 innings in Saturday's win against Illinois, allowing just three runs on four hits, striking out a career-high seven. The Baldwinsville, N.Y. native earned his conference leading sixth win of the season, improving to 6-1. Starting in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Fighting Illini, Savacool retired the first 10 batters he faced in order and took a one-hitter into the seventh, keeping the league's best offense to their third-lowest number of hits on the season.
Also winning freshman of the week honors after tossing complete game victories against Michigan State and Penn State, Savacool has now pitched beyond eight innings in three games this season and has tossed a team high 57.1 innings this spring.
Vought's record-setting day at the plate on Saturday earned him Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. The senior backstop went 4-for-5 at the plate with a school record-tying three home runs and four RBI in Saturday's series-clinching win against Illinois. Only three other Terps have accomplished the feat, most recently in 2009.
The Wilkes-Barre, Pa. native led Maryland's six-homer barrage that resulted in a 12-4 win, the most times Maryland has homered in a game since also slugging six in a 21-4 victory against UMBC on March 10, 2004. Vought's three homers were in consecutive at-bats after striking out in his first plate appearance, also driving in an RBI single in his last at-bat, getting his career-high fourth hit.
Savacool and Vought helped Maryland take two of three against the Illini, now winning four consecutive series and eight of their last nine games. The Terps return to action this weekend at home with a three-game series against Purdue, May 14-16.
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