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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 10, 2021</span></b><u><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Impact",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Andy Thomas Named Finalist for Senior CLASS Award<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The fifth-year senior is one of 10 student-athletes to be selected<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For more information contact: </span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Zach Rhodes, 919-247-7585, </span><u><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">Zach_Rhodes@baylor.edu</span></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WACO, Texas</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">– For
his work on and off the field, fifth-year senior Andy Thomas was selected as a finalist for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award, it was announced on Monday. Thomas is one of 10 student-athletes to be considered for the award.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">On the season, Thomas is hitting a career-best .350/.408/.595, to go along with a career-high 10 home runs and 53 RBI. Thomas leads the team in home
runs and RBI, he is also second on the team in hits (57), batting average, slugging percentage and total bases (97). His 53 RBI are third-most in the Big 12.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Thomas is not only a stellar athlete on the field, but he is also a great student in the classroom. The fifth-year senior graduated with a degree
in marketing with a 3.44 GPA in May of 2020. Last year he was awarded the 2020 Dr. Prentice Gautt Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship. In addition, he has made the First Team Big 12 All-Academic Team all four years at BU. He is currently working on his MBA and
has a perfect 4.0 GPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character
and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">An acronym for
<i>Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School</i>, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner.
Fans are encouraged to vote on the <u><a href="http://www.seniorclassaward.com">Senior CLASS Award website</a></u> through June 7. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2021 College World Series in June.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">2021 Senior CLASS Award Baseball Finalists<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Darren Baker</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">, California
<b>Jake Mulholland</b>, Oregon State<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">T.J. Collett</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">, Kentucky
<b>Zach Pettway</b>, UCLA<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Scotty Dubrule</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">, Mississippi State
<b>Evan Russell</b>, Tennessee<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Brett Harris</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">, Gonzaga
<b>Andy Thomas</b>, Baylor<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Alex Kachler</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">, North Florida
<b>Rankin Woley</b>, Auburn<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt;background:white">-BaylorBears.com-</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Zach Rhodes</span></b><span style="color:black"> | Associate Director of Athletics Communications<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">C: 919-247-7585 | O: 254-710-3784<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D745A5.90B52530" alt="signature_2038956470"></span></a><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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