Baseball Awards Go to Michigan State, Oregon, Penn State, USC

ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten Conference has announced its baseball weekly awards for games played Feb. 17-23.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Paxton Kling, Penn State
Jr. — OF — Roaring Spring, Pa. — LSU (NCAA)

• Led Big Ten players with a 2.138 OPS, four home runs, and 20 total bases in 13 at-bats
• Produced a .600 on-base percentage and 1.538 slugging percentage, scoring seven runs and driving in eight more
• Contributions helped Penn State improve to 5-1 on the season with a three-game sweep of Longwood in Lexington, Va.
• The LSU transfer earns his first Big Ten weekly accolade
• Last Nittany Lion chosen Player of the Week: Matt Maloney on Feb. 19, 2024

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Joseph Dzierwa, Michigan State
Jr. — S-LHP — Haskins, Ohio — Otsego HS

• Earned the win against Washington State at the Kleberg Bank College Classic, striking out a career-high 12 batters in an 83-pitch performance
• Propeled MSU to its fifth-straight win in a streak that reached six games
• Retired 14-consecutive batters and did not allow a run, becoming the first Big Ten pitcher with a 2-0 record
• Averaged one strikeout for every 2.0 batters faced while limiting the Cougars to a .045 batting average
• Is the first Spartan player to ever win Big Ten awards in back-to-back weeks

CO-FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Burke-Lee Mabeus, Oregon
Fr. — C — Henderson, Nevada — Bishop Gorman HS

• Made a pair of starts behind the plate for No. 11 Oregon, recording a slash line of .444/.500/.778
• Went 4-for-9 at the plate, connecting on a grand slam for his first career home run
• Recorded six RBI in the series finale against Rhode Island, the most by an Oregon true freshman since Mitchell Tolman had seven on April 30, 2013
• Registered seven putouts and a 1.000 fielding percentage
• Becomes the first Duck to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Week

CO-FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Grant Govel, USC
Fr. — R-RHP — Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. — Palos Verdes HS

• Made two appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 0.00 ERA over seven innings of work
• Earned the win in USC’s 5-2 decision over No. 21-ranked UC Irvine on Feb. 18,
• Threw five scoreless innings against the Anteaters, striking out six batters
• Finished the week with a .045 opponent batting average
• Receives distinction as the first Trojan to capture a Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor

2025 BIG TEN BASEBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
Feb. 17
PL: Logan Sutter, Sr., INF/DH, PUR
P: Joseph Dzierwa, Jr., S-LHP, MSU
F: Matthew Kouser, Fr., S-RHP, NU

Feb. 24
PL: Paxton Kling, Jr., OF, PSU
P: Joseph Dzierwa, Jr., S-LHP, MSU
F: Burke-Lee Mabeus, Fr., C, ORE

F: Grant Govel, Fr., R-RHP, USC