March 24, 2014

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky fifth-year senior catcher Micheal Thomas – who hit .412 last week with two home runs – has been named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

A native of Elizabethtown, Ky., Thomas – the only regular in the SEC hitting over .400 – had a prolific week in leading Kentucky to a series win over No. 1 South Carolina, and a midweek win over Western Kentucky. While catching all 36 innings in the four-game week, Thomas hit .412 with five runs, two doubles, two homers and six RBI. Thomas hit two huge homers in the series win over the Gamecocks – UK’s third all-time series win over a No. 1 ranked foe – including a three-run, go-ahead homer on Friday night. Thomas then cranked a go-ahead homer in UK’s 2-1 win to clinch the series win. He also went 3-for-5 on Tuesday vs. WKU, with a go-ahead RBI single.

On the year, Thomas leads the SEC in average, with a .416 mark, 18 points higher than the next closet hitter. Thomas has seven doubles, five homers and 28 RBI, with a .500 on-base percentage and a .701 slugging mark, batting .409 with three homers in league play. Defensively, Thomas has caught 77.2 straight innings over the last eight games, hitting .452 in that stretch. While leading UK to the second fewest steals allowed in the SEC, Thomas saw his streak of 103.2 consecutive innings pitched without allowing a stolen base snapped on Sunday vs. the Gamecocks.

In his career, Thomas has played in 99 games with 65 starts, belting 13 doubles, nine homers and 53 RBI, stealing six bases and hitting .290.

Kentucky (17-7, 3-3 SEC) will return to action with a Tuesday matchup with Xavier at 6:30 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium, before venturing to No. 7 Vanderbilt for a three-game test in Nashville, starting Friday.

KENTUCKY MOVEMENT IN POLLS

Kentucky has moved to No. 19 in the latest Baseball America top 25, checking in No. 17 in the Perfect Game USA top 25 and No. 17 in the Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll.