NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Sophomore shortstop Taylor Joseph and senior right-hander Sam Jackson swept the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) weekly Baseball honors on Monday afternoon. Joseph was named the league's Hitter of the Week while Jackson reeled in the Pitcher of the Week nod.
Joseph, a two-way player from Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, was already off to a strong week before capping it off with a "cycle" in Saturday's road win in Kenosha. He started his week with a 2-for-4 performance against North Central on Thursday before a 2-for-3 game with an RBI and run scored against Carthage at home on Friday. Joseph further elevated his game in the Vikings' first road conference game, hitting for the cycle in a 14-11 win at Carthage on Saturday. He finished the week 8-for-12 with 6 RBI, three extra-base hits, and three runs scored.
Jackson, a hard-throwing righty from Nashville, Tennessee, enjoyed a career outing to secure the Vikings' second conference win against the Firebirds on Friday. He enjoyed the longest outing of his career, working 8.1 innings to punch out 11. Jackson allowed only 2 hits and 1 earned run - a home run in the ninth. Otherwise, he did not allow an extra-base hit against 29 other Firebird batters. The righty's .188 Batting Average Against ranks fifth among CCIW pitchers and his 37 strikeouts rank tied for third.
