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Ben Thoma
Position: Outfielder/Catcher
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Columbia, IL
High School: Columbia
2010: OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll... Thoma played in 52 of the 53 games, all but the Illinois game in Mattoon, and started 51 times… started 43 times in left field, six times at designated hitter and twice at catcher… shared the team lead with 13 doubles… batted .346 with runners in scoring position thanks to a team-high 28 hits… recorded 19 of his 39 RBIs with two outs in an inning, also sharing the team lead… led the way with a .346 average (9-for-26) and nine RBIs on the spring break trip… batted .339 with 10 RBIs in April… registered 10 of his 13 doubles in true road games… batted a team-best .467 (14-for-30) with 10 RBIs in neutral-site action… went 5-for-12 in the OVC Tournament, hitting safely in all three games including a three-hit, four-RBI effort in the tourney win versus Southeast Missouri… posted an eight-game hit streak in late April and also hit safely in the final five games of the year… homered twice, posting his first collegiate multi-homer game, and recorded a career-high five RBIs in the spring break trip game against Army… also went deep in the finale of the UAB series, the Illinois College win and the opener of the UT Martin series… hit safely in all three games of the Southeastern Louisiana, UAB, South Florida, Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech series… posted his first career four-hit effort against Missouri… had three hits in OVC games against Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State… doubled in both ends of the doubleheader sweep at Murray State, going 2-for-2 in game one after coming off the bench for the first time in the season… doubled and homered, scoring twice, in the opener of the UT Martin series… delivered a two-out, two-run single to put EIU ahead to stay in the nightcap of the Austin Peay doubleheader… had two singles and scored twice in EIU’s 10-run fifth inning against Morehead State… knocked in the game-tying run in the ninth inning against Southern Illinois with a sacrifice fly… delivered a two-out, two-run double to put EIU ahead to stay in the win at Illinois State… had a pair of two-run hits, including the game-tying single in the seventh inning, of the OVC Tournament win against Southeast Missouri.
2009: OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll... Thoma played in 31 games and started 24 times, 20 at catcher and four as the designated hitter… started nine straight games behind the plate from April 25 to May 15… homered in his first at-bat of the season and went on to hit all eight of his long balls in EIU wins… went deep once every 12.6 at-bats, the second-best ratio on the team among regulars… hit four of his eight homers in OVC play… threw out a team-best eight (35 percent) would-be basestealers… was 2-for-8 as a pinch hitter… collected nine of 23 RBIs with two outs… batted .292 and record eight (3 2Bs, 5 HRs) of his 12 extra-base hits in true road games… went 8-for-23 with two homers and seven RBIs in the month of March… was 9-for-19 with four homers during the 13-game win streak… went deep twice in the home win against Indiana State… homered and registered a his career four-RBI game at UT Martin… doubled home the game-tying run in the sixth inning of the loss at Louisville… connected for a two-run homer in the first inning of the series-opening win against Jacksonville State… hit the first of EIU’s three eighth-inning homers in game one of the doubleheader sweep at Southeast Missouri… helped prevent the Panthers from being charged with a wild pitch or passed ball in all 16 innings of the SEMO twinbill… reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances in the series-opening win against Eastern Kentucky… connected for a pinch-hit three-run homer in the series-opening win at Morehead State.
2008: OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll... Thoma played in 10 games, starting nine times, before a back injury ended his season… granted a medical redshirt… started five times at catcher and four times as the designated hitter… delivered a two-out, two-run double in his first collegiate game… led off the ninth inning of a one-run game at Northwestern State with a pinch-hit single… went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in the series finale at NSU… started each of the first five games of the spring break trip… recorded a three-hit game in the first of the two wins against Bucknell in Florida.
HIGH SCHOOL: He was a four-year letter-winner for coach Dustin Nail… also lettered twice in basketball and once in football… named the 2007 IHSA Class A Player of the Year by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association… helped lead Columbia to the 2007 IHSA Class A state title in baseball… Metro-East Baseball Coaches Association Illinois Player of the Year as a senior… Illinois Prep Baseball Report All-State selection and Top 50 prospect… two-time St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Belleville News-Democrat All-Area honoree… All-Cahokia Conference and team captain as a senior… also played for the Waterloo American Legion team.
PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was winning the state baseball championship as a senior… his father has been a major influence on his sports career because "he has always supported me through everything and has been with me every step of the way"… most admires coach Nail for "leading us to the state championship two years in a row and helping us win the title as seniors"… his cousin is current teammate and fellow CHS grad Josh Mueller… son of Tom and Vicki Thoma… MAJOR: Psychology.
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