The Big Ten announced Monday that Hawkeye outfielder Robert Neustrom has been named the league’s Freshman of the Week.

The honor is Neustrom’s first career accolade. The Sioux City native came to Iowa as a top-500 prospect by Perfect Game and was the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year in his senior season.

Neustrom hit .500 last week, and he is batting .349 on the season. He collected hits in three of four games last week; he went 5-for-6 in the first two games of the Maryland series, including 3-for-3 in the series’ second game. It was his second 3-hit game of his freshman season.

His .349 batting average is third on the team behind Nick Roscetti and Joel Booker. Neustrom has collected 15 hits, including 3 that went for extra-bases in 43 at-bats, as well as knocking in 4 RBIs. He’s appeared in 18 games and has started 11 of them.

Neustrom’s .442 slugging percentage is the fourth-best mark on the team, behind Booker, Roscetti, and Austin Guzzo.

“Robert’s getting hot, and that’s a good thing for us,” Iowa head coach Rick Heller said. “We need some guys up and down the order to spread things out for us … he gave us a nice boost and really helped us big-time.”

Neustrom and the Hawkeyes will try to continue the hot streak when they face Northern Illinois in Banks Field today for a midweek contest. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.

— by Jake Mosbach