For the first time in his career, Iowa’s Nick Gallagher became the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

Gallagher’s honor comes after one of his best performances of the season against Penn State on April 28. The sophomore struck out a career-high 10 batters without walking a single Nittany Lion.

Early on, Gallagher was on fire, striking out 8 of the game’s first 10 batters. He became the first Hawkeye since 2014 to record 10 or more strikeouts in     a game.

“He had good command of all his pitches,” head coach Rick Heller said. “[He] battled like a Friday-night guy should do. I was really proud of his effort.”

He gave up only 2 runs on 3 hits during his career-high eight innings and moved to 6-1 on the season.

Gallagher’s accolade adds a fourth honor to Iowa’s season total — he’s the second Hawkeye to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Week; Zach Daniels earned the award on March 27.

Mason McCoy (Feb. 27) and Jake Adams (March 6) have each earned Big Ten Player of the Week nods this year.

The Hawkeyes will travel to Macomb, Illinois, today to face Western Illinois for the second time this season before a conference series with Michigan State in East Lansing starting on Friday.

— by Adam Hensley