Valparaiso University baseball second baseman Nolan Tucker (Cedar Lake, Ind. / Hanover Central) stayed hot at the plate this week, and his offensive success has received notice from the Missouri Valley Conference as Tucker was named the league’s Player of the Week on Monday.

Tucker posted a robust .667 batting average in a three-game weekend series at Southern Illinois and an overall average of .563 over four games this week. He went 8-for-12 in a road series with the Salukis while driving in four runs and scoring three times. Three of his eight hits in the series went for extra bases.

Tucker was a home run shy of the natural cycle in the Saturday game at SIU as he recorded a single, double and triple in that order in his first three plate appearances. He slugged 1.000 and posted an on-base percentage of .714 in the series with the Salukis. His four-hit game on Saturday was his second of the season as he became the first Beacon with two four-hit games this year.

Tucker ranks among the Missouri Valley Conference leaders in batting average (.387, fourth), slugging percentage (.548, 13^th) and on-base percentage (.454, seventh) and leads the team in all three slash line categories. In MVC-only action, he owns a .419 batting average that ranks third in the league. This marks a noteworthy turnaround for Tucker, who entered the season as a .188 career hitter over two injury-riddled seasons.

Weekly awards can be hard to come by in such a strong baseball conference, as this marks the team’s first weekly award of the season and just the third Player of the Week honor since joining The Valley (Sam Shaikin, Kaleb Hannahs).