ROSEMONT, Ill. – Luke Gaffney's 10-RBI weekend – in which he hit safely, scored a run and drove in a run in all four games of Purdue Baseball's home-opening series sweep – earned the breakout Boilermaker his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor of the season.
As was the case two weeks ago when he was the back-to-back Freshman of the Week to open the season, Gaffney has made league history once again. Since the Big Ten added Freshman of the Week to its weekly awards program to start the 2011 campaign, Gaffney is the first player to win it three times over the first four weeks of a season. He shared the honor this week with Minnesota pitcher Kyle Remington, also a redshirt-freshman.
In his Alexander Field debut, Gaffney (8-for-13, 3 XBH, 2 BB, HBP) posted a .615/.688/1.000 slash line across 16 plate appearances, reaching base safely 11 times vs. UAlbany. He doubled and tripled with three RBI in the game 2 win. The Danville, Kentucky, native delivered a pair of two-run singles in the game 3 win. He reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances in the game 4 win, connecting for another triple.
The 10-RBI weekend gave Gaffney a team-leading 21 RBI this season. He and Connor Caskenette (20) rank 2-3 in the Big Ten entering the week. Reaching the 20-RBI mark by March 10 made them the second-fastest Boilermakers to achieve the feat (via date on the calendar).
For the season, Gaffney has hit safely in 14 of the 15 games he's played, recording a team-high eight multi-hit games. He enters the week leading the league in batting average (.466), hits (27), slugging (.776) and OPS (1.299).
Gaffney also continued to hold his own as Purdue's starting first baseman despite not playing the position until this past fall. He had 31 putouts and contributed to eight of the 10 double plays the Boilermakers turned, including starting a 3-6-1 twin killing in the series opener vs. UAlbany.
Purdue continues its 13-game homestand Wednesday with a $3 midweek matchup vs. Northern Illinois. General admission tickets, hot dogs, beers, popcorn and nachos are all specially priced at $3. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. ET.
3-TIME BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOREES
Since the league added the award in 2011
2024: Luke Gaffney, Purdue
2023: Devin Taylor, Indiana
2022: Keaton Anthony, Iowa (6x)
2021: Jason Savacool, Maryland
2019: Maxwell Costes, Maryland
2018: Patrick Fredrickson, Minnesota
2018: Jesse Franklin, Michigan
2015: Logan Sowers, Indiana
2013: Evan Hill, Michigan
2012: Sam Travis, Indiana
2012: Kyle Schwarber, Indiana
2011: Josh Desze, Ohio State (4x)
2011: Dustin DeMuth, Indiana
As was the case two weeks ago when he was the back-to-back Freshman of the Week to open the season, Gaffney has made league history once again. Since the Big Ten added Freshman of the Week to its weekly awards program to start the 2011 campaign, Gaffney is the first player to win it three times over the first four weeks of a season. He shared the honor this week with Minnesota pitcher Kyle Remington, also a redshirt-freshman.
In his Alexander Field debut, Gaffney (8-for-13, 3 XBH, 2 BB, HBP) posted a .615/.688/1.000 slash line across 16 plate appearances, reaching base safely 11 times vs. UAlbany. He doubled and tripled with three RBI in the game 2 win. The Danville, Kentucky, native delivered a pair of two-run singles in the game 3 win. He reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances in the game 4 win, connecting for another triple.
The 10-RBI weekend gave Gaffney a team-leading 21 RBI this season. He and Connor Caskenette (20) rank 2-3 in the Big Ten entering the week. Reaching the 20-RBI mark by March 10 made them the second-fastest Boilermakers to achieve the feat (via date on the calendar).
For the season, Gaffney has hit safely in 14 of the 15 games he's played, recording a team-high eight multi-hit games. He enters the week leading the league in batting average (.466), hits (27), slugging (.776) and OPS (1.299).
Gaffney also continued to hold his own as Purdue's starting first baseman despite not playing the position until this past fall. He had 31 putouts and contributed to eight of the 10 double plays the Boilermakers turned, including starting a 3-6-1 twin killing in the series opener vs. UAlbany.
Purdue continues its 13-game homestand Wednesday with a $3 midweek matchup vs. Northern Illinois. General admission tickets, hot dogs, beers, popcorn and nachos are all specially priced at $3. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. ET.
3-TIME BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOREES
Since the league added the award in 2011
2024: Luke Gaffney, Purdue
2023: Devin Taylor, Indiana
2022: Keaton Anthony, Iowa (6x)
2021: Jason Savacool, Maryland
2019: Maxwell Costes, Maryland
2018: Patrick Fredrickson, Minnesota
2018: Jesse Franklin, Michigan
2015: Logan Sowers, Indiana
2013: Evan Hill, Michigan
2012: Sam Travis, Indiana
2012: Kyle Schwarber, Indiana
2011: Josh Desze, Ohio State (4x)
2011: Dustin DeMuth, Indiana