EAST LANSING— On Tuesday afternoon, MSU senior pitcher Sam Benschoter was named the Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week. The announcement comes after Benschoter’s 17 strikeout performance in 9 1/3 innings of relief against Nebraska on Sunday.

He was also named to the Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week list on Monday.

Benschoter is the third Spartan to be honored for an excellent week of play, following sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker, who was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on March 10 and freshman pitcher Nick Powers, who received Co-Freshman of the Week honors of March 30.

In 9 1/3 innings of relief against conference-leading Nebraska, Benschoter struck out the side in the third and fifth innings. The 17 strikeouts set a modern-day school record, breaking the record formally held by Mark Mulder, who struck out 16 batters on March 7, 1998. It also tied the most strikeouts by one pitcher in a game within the Big Ten this season.

The Tecumseh native has collected three double-digit strikeout outings on the season, as he struck out 10 Indiana batters in relief on March 27 and 10 Maryland batters in the season opener on March 3. On the season, Benschoter has a 1-3 record and a 7.62 ERA.

The Spartans, who have lost six out of their last seven games, will look to revive their season when they travel to Penn State for a three-game weekend series starting on Friday.