@GWUBaseball Second Baseman Collin Thacker Earns Louisville Slugger All-America Honors
June 02, 2016 | Baseball
TUSCON, Ariz. – Gardner-Webb second baseman Collin Thacker was named to the 2016 Louisville Slugger Division I All-America Second Team Thursday morning, as selected by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Thacker (Wilmington, N.C. / New Hanover HS) is the first Runnin' Bulldog to earn Division I baseball All-America honors from any organization, with the program moving to the NCAA Division I level prior to the 2001 season.
The 5-foot-9, 195-pound standout enjoyed one of the top offensive seasons in school history, batting a Big South Conference-best .394 and leading NCAA Division I with 28 doubles. That mark was second best in school history, just two shy of former standout Blake Lalli's 30 two-baggers in 2005.
He also paced the Big South with 86 hits and added a career-high 46 RBI, four home runs and 46 runs scored in 57 starts. He struck out only 16 times in 218 at bats, which also ranked among the Big South's leaders in 2016.
Thacker, who played second base for the first time in his college career, fielded a crisp .973 in 258 total chances. He was runner up for Big South Conference Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Big South Conference as an infielder.
Thacker surpassed his previous career totals – two years combined – this season in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks and at bats.
In 120 career games at Gardner-Webb, Thacker is batting .339 with 138 hits, 34 doubles, seven home runs and 76 RBI. He has been tough to strike out all three seasons at GWU, going down on strikes just 37 times in 407 at bats. Thacker has walked 47 times during that same span.
He is the first baseball All-America selection for Gardner-Webb, regardless of division, since 2000.
Thacker led Gardner-Webb to one of its best seasons ever, setting a Division I era record with 37 wins (37-21) and a tie for second in the Big South Conference regular season.
He is playing this summer with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plains League, the same squad he starred for in 2015 – batting .306 for the summer and earning a spot in the CPL All-Star Game.
