WACO, Texas — Junior infielder Nick Loftin has earned Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year honors as he headlines the Preseason All-Big 12 team with catcher Andy Thomas.
The honorees were selected in a vote of the league’s head coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own players.
Loftin, an All-Big 12 first-team selection a season ago, finished the 2019 season batting .323 (76-for-235), good for fifth-best on a team that finished second in the Big 12. He was fourth on the team with 41 RBI and his six home runs were fourth-most. As a sophomore he was the 12th toughest batter nationally to strike out, doing so only once every 13.8 at bats.
A slick fielder at short, the Corpus Christi, native also represented the Bears on the prestigious USA Collegiate National Team over the summer where he also saw action on the mound in addition to starts at five different positions: short, second and third base, left, and right field.
Loftin, a freshman All-American in 2018, has a career batting average of .315 through 108 games played, starting 106 of those. He has 77 career RBI, 12 home runs, a career slugging percentage of .473 and on-base percentage of .375. He boasts 38 walks in his career to just 37 strikeouts.
He has also been named the Preseason Player of the Year for the Big 12 by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America, while earning Preseason All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.
Thomas was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team as a catcher/infielder. The senior is the best returning hitter for the Bears after finishing second on the team with a .335 average in 2019. He led the team with 22 doubles and finished with four home runs and 32 RBI through 47 games played. He drew 24 walks and boasted the second-best on-base percentage on the team at .413.
Thomas has seen action at first base, designated hitter and catcher throughout his career, but with Langeliers moving on to pro ball after the 2019 season, Thomas is set to be the everyday catcher for the Bears.
Baylor will open up the 2020 campaign on Friday, February 14 at 6:30 p.m. as they welcome Nebraska to Baylor Ballpark for a three-game set.
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