LYNCHBURG, VA. – Tyler Thornton added another piece of hardware to his shelf on Monday, being named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) All-America First-Team. This is the right-hander's second postseason honor as Collegiate Baseball dubbed him the National Freshman of the Year on June 5.
 
Thornton finished the year with a 10-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average in 13 starts. His 5.54 hits allowed per nine innings were ranked 11th in the country and first in the West Coast Conference and his 10 wins were also ranked 11th in the nation. Along with teammate Carlos Lomeli (also 10 wins), he has collected the most wins in a single season by any Gael pitcher since 1991.
 
Thornton's 11.08 strikeouts per nine were ranked third in the WCC and his WHIP of 0.97 was also third in the conference (27th in the nation). The San Diego native was twice been named the WCC Pitcher of the Week and both times were in a span of three weeks. Furthermore, he went on a streak of three starts without allowing an earned run (22.1 innings in total), allowing just six hits during that time while striking out 26 batters. Most recently, he also earned a spot on the WCC Championship All-Tournament Team after leading SMC to victory against Gonzaga in the first game of the tournament: he tossed 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out nine batters.
 
The season is not over for Thornton however, as he will be competing for a spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in Cary, North Carolina.
 
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