ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – UCF first baseman Rylan Thomas added another postseason honor on Monday, earning Second Team Freshman All-America accolades from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
The Freshman All-American team is voted upon by the membership of the NCBWA. The 2017 NCBWA National Freshman Player of the Year and National Freshman Pitcher of the Year will be announced on Tuesday, June 13.
A total of 31 standout freshmen college baseball players from 29 teams and 15 conference across the country are featured on the 2017 NCBWA Freshman All-American Team.
With 14 home runs in 2017, Thomas set a new UCF record for round trippers by a freshman and hit the most homers for any Knight since 2012. The Winter Garden, Fla., native led UCF with 53 runs batted in, totaled 11 doubles and scored 46 runs while batting .303 for the season.
Thomas was named the American Athletic Conference Rookie Position Player of the Year, and earned Second Team All-Conference honors. He also earned Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball last week.
The Knights just wrapped up an extremely successful first season under head coach Greg Lovelady with their first NCAA Regional berth since 2012. UCF finished the year 40-22 and won The American regular season championship with a league mark of 15-9.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
