Iowa baseball’s Trenton Wallace earns Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors
The Rock Island, Illinois, native finished the 2021 regular season with a 2.34 ERA.
Iowa’s Trenton Wallace pitches during a baseball game between Iowa and Maryland on Friday, April 23, 2021 at Duane Banks Baseball Stadium. The Hawkeyes defeated the Terrapins 6-2.
May 30, 2021
Iowa baseball junior Trenton Wallace has been named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, per a Sunday release from the conference office.
Wallace has served as the Hawkeyes’ ace throughout the 2021 season, filling in for sophomore hurler Jack Dreyer — who missed all of Iowa’s 2021 campaign with an elbow injury.
Wallace is the first Hawkeye to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. In 1992, Iowa pitcher Brett Backlund was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Year. The conference did not begin to dole out pitcher of the year honors until 1994.
In 2021, Wallace started 13 games, finishing the regular season with 7-1 record, a 2.34 ERA, and a league-leading 106 strikeouts. Wallace’s 106 strikeouts in 2021 were good for second on Iowa’s single-season strikeouts list. He trails only Jim Magrane, who struck out 110 batters in 1999.
The Rock Island, Illinois, native gave up 19 earned runs and 54 hits in 73 innings of regular season action. In 10 of his starts, Wallace allowed two or fewer runs. He also racked up eight or more strikeouts in a game on 10 separate occasions.
Hawkeye seniors Ben Norman and Grant Leonard and junior Izaya Fullard also earned All-Big Ten honors.
Norman was named to the All-Big Ten first team, posting a .311 batting average in 2021. The Des Moines, Iowa, native also accumulated 35 runs, 10 home runs, 12 steals, and a conference-leading 51 RBIs.
Fullard garnered third-team All-Big Ten honors for his performance at second base for Iowa this season. The North Liberty, Iowa, native has batted .296, racking up 47 hits, eight doubles, five home runs, 20 RBIs, and 22 runs scored.
Leonard is Iowa baseball’s 2021 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient. The honor is given to student-athletes that display sportsmanship and ethical behavior, are in good academic standing, and demonstrate good citizenship outside of athletics.
