For the second week in a row, an Illinois baseball player has been honored as the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Last week, Illini senior outfielder Drew Davidson was given the award. This week, the honor was presented to senior first baseman Dusty Bensko.

Bensko is officially the third Illini to be honored by the Big Ten. In addition to Davidson, Illini pitcher Brian Blomquist was also named as Big Ten Pitcher of the Week in March.

Bensko, a Pleasant Plains, Ill., native, hit .478 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in six games last week, raising his season totals to .383 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. His eight home runs currently lead the Big Ten, and his 36 runs batted in are tied for second.

Bensko’s offensive production has been influential to Illinois’ torrid start in the Big Ten. At 7-1, the Illini are off to their best conference start in 15 years and are tied with Minnesota for first in the conference – a full two games over third-place Iowa and Penn State.

Along with being named Big Ten Player of the Week, Bensko was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Hitter of the Week. He is the conference leader in slugging percentage (.723), is eighth in batting average (.383) and 10th in on base percentage (.455).

The Illini are 17-8-1 overall and host Robert Morris College this evening at 6:05 before getting back to Big Ten Conference play this Friday against Michigan at Illinois Field.