Brooke Thomason Printable Bio (PDF)

Career Game-by-Game Stats (through 2012)

Brooke Thomason Photo Gallery

Brooke Thomason Audio Feature

Career Honors & Awards

• Team Co-Captain (2013)
• All-Big Ten Second Team (2012)
• Two-Time Big Ten Player of the Week
• NFCA All-Midwest Region Second Team (2010)
• All-Big 12 Second Team (2010)
• Big 12 Player of the Week (3/15/10)
• Nebraska Record Holder for Grand Slams in a Season (2 in 2012)
• Academic All-Big Ten (2012, 2013)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2011, 2012; Spring 2012)
• Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll (2011)

Career Capsule
Brooke Thomason has been one of Nebraska’s best players through her first three seasons in the program. A two-time all-conference performer and three-time conference player of the week, Thomason has started 159 games in her career, the second most starts of any Husker. She has been Nebraska’s starting right fielder the past three seasons, earning 158 starts at the position, the most at one position by any Husker. She will start in right field again this spring, while batting in the middle of the Nebraska lineup for the fourth straight year.

Thomason has been an outstanding hitter for the Huskers. She owns a .322 career average with 150 hits, 31 doubles, 26 home runs, 119 RBIs, 70 walks and 92 runs scored. Entering her senior year, Thomason ranks sixth in school history with a .556 career slugging percentage, and she is eighth in home runs and RBIs and 13th in batting average. Thomason is the only player in school history to homer at least seven times in each of her first three seasons, as well as the first Husker to produce 30 RBIs as a freshman, sophomore and junior. She is also just the sixth player in school history to hit .300 in each of her first three seasons, and Thomason needs only eight runs scored this spring to become the ninth Husker to record 100 career hits, RBIs and runs scored.

Junior Season [2012]
Thomason produced another impressive season as a junior in 2012, earning second-team all-conference accolades for the second time in three years. She appeared in 54 of Nebraska’s 55 games, earning 53 starts in right field. Thomason produced a career-best .326 average in 2012, while adding 14 doubles, seven home runs and 47 RBIs - the most ever by a Husker junior.

With her seven home runs, Thomason became the first Husker ever to homer at least seven times in each of her first three seasons. Two of Thomason’s homers were grand slams, as she set a school record for most grand slams in a season. Both of her grand slams were game-ending, walk-off blasts.

Her first grand slam of the season – and of her career – was a historic shot in Nebraska’s first-ever Big Ten Conference game on March 23 against Northwestern. Nebraska trailed 6-3 in the sixth inning, before Thomason hit a solo home run. Then with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and Nebraska trailing 6-5, Thomason blasted a walk-off grand slam that powered the Huskers to a 9-6 win in their inaugural Big Ten Conference game. The walk-off homer was the first by a Husker in 10 seasons. Thomason’s second walk-off grand slam of the season came on April 6 against Illinois, when her sixth-inning slam gave Nebraska the necessary runs for an 11-0, run-rule victory.

The two grand slams helped power Thomason to a career-high and NU junior-class record 47 RBIs, as she became the first Husker to open her career with three straight 30-RBI seasons. Thomason’s career-high batting average was also her third straight season with a .300 average, as she became the sixth player in school history to accomplish that feat. Thomason’s 14 doubles also tied for the sixth-highest single-season total in school history and the third-best mark for a Husker junior.   

Thomason batted .354 during conference play with five doubles, four home runs and 24 RBIs in only 23 games. She finished the conference season ranked fourth in RBIs, seventh in slugging percentage, eighth in home runs and 10th in on-base percentage, walks and total bases. Over the entire season, Thomason tied for fourth in the Big Ten in RBIs and tied for fifth in doubles.    

Thomason excelled in the clutch, producing 27 of her 47 RBIs with two outs, 10 more than any other Husker. Thomason batted .500 (7-for-14) with 16 RBIs with the bases loaded and .446 (25-for-56) with 43 RBIs with runners in scoring position. Thomason produced a team-high 13 multi-RBI performances in 2012, including five games with three-or-more RBIs and a pair of five-RBI efforts.  

In addition to the power and clutch hitting, Thomason also showed patience at the plate, as she drew a career-high 32 walks to post a career-best .458 on-base percentage. Thomason drew at least one walk in 27 of her 53 games, including four games where she walked at least twice.   

Defensively, Thomason was solid in right field, committing only three errors on the season while recording a team-high four outfield assists. In the classroom, Thomason earned academic All-Big Ten honors, as she joined classmate Gabby Banda as the only Huskers to earn all-conference honors on the field and in the classroom.

Sophomore Season [2011]
Thomason followed up a fantastic freshman season with a solid sophomore campaign. She started 54 of Nebraska’s 55 games in 2011, making 53 starts in right field and one start in center. After a strong finish to her season, Thomason posted a .319 batting average with eight home runs and 34 RBIs. She also ranked second on the team by coaxing 24 walks, which helped her raise her on-base percentage .033 from her freshman season.

Thomason’s eight home runs ranked third on the team and her .485 slugging percentage ranked fourth. She finished with 12 multi-hit games and produced eight multi-RBI efforts, while setting game highs in hits (4), walks (3) and runs scored (3) and posting a career-long hitting streak (10 games). By posting another strong offensive season in 2011, Thomason moved into the NU record books for career batting average and slugging percentage.

She batted .343 against non-conference competition, but Thomason also excelled in conference play while facing a first- or second-team All-America pitcher in 10 of her 18 games. Five of Thomason’s eight home runs came during the conference season. She led NU in hits (16) and tied for the team lead in home runs and runs scored (8) during Big 12 play, while ranking second with a .276 batting average and a .534 slugging percentage.

The strong conference season fueled an impressive end to Thomason’s season. Over the final 10 games, Thomason went 11-for-30 (.367) with three home runs and nine RBIs. Thomason saw her career-long 10-game hitting streak snapped in the championship game of the NCAA Stanford Regional, but she hit safely in three of Nebraska’s four NCAA Tournament games, while adding a home run, four walks, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Defensively, Thomason posted a .960 fielding percentage and committed two errors. She also recorded three outfield assists, one shy of the team lead.

Freshman Season [2010]
Despite battling a nagging foot injury all season long, Thomason put together one of the finest freshman seasons in school history in 2010. The injury limited her to 52 starts, but Thomason still produced a .321 average with 14 doubles, 11 homers and 38 RBIs. She led Nebraska in slugging percentage (.616), while ranking second in RBIs, doubles and home runs and third in average.

Thomason’s terrific freshman season put her among elite company in Husker history. Her 14 doubles and 25 extra-base hits both ranked second among all freshmen in program history, behind only three-time All-American Ali Viola. Thomason also joined Viola as the only freshmen in school history to finish with a .300 average and at least 10 doubles and 10 home runs. Thomason was the first Husker freshman to bat .300 in a season since 2000 and the first to record 50 hits since 2001.

During her impressive season, Thomason also finished third all-time among all Husker freshmen in slugging percentage behind Viola and another three-time All-American, Jennifer Lizama. Thomason finished fourth in home runs and RBIs and even cracked the Nebraska all-time top 10 with her 14 doubles, good for sixth place.

Thomason also became only the seventh player in the history of the program – and just the third freshman – to produce 10 doubles and 10 home runs in the same season, a feat also accomplished by teammate Heidi Foland in 2010. Nearly half of Thomason’s hits went for extra bases, allowing her to rank eighth in the Big 12 in doubles and ninth in home runs. Among her 10 multi-hit games were five contests where she produced more than one extra-base hit. Thomason also produced seven games with more than one RBI, including joining Viola as the only freshmen in NU history to produce a pair of games with at least five RBIs.

After missing the first day of the season due to her injury, Thomason started the final four games of Nebraska’s season-opening tournament. She immediately set the tone for her superb season, going 5-for-15 (.333) in those four games with a pair of doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Thomason continued to produce even during the difficult Big 12 schedule, when she tied for second in the league with five home runs. Thomason’s five home runs tied the Nebraska freshman record for most home runs during a conference season (Big Eight or Big 12), while ranking as the fifth-highest total by any freshman in Big 12 history.

For her efforts, Thomason was a second-team All-Big 12 selection and earned a spot on the NFCA All-Midwest Region second team. She was the first Husker freshman to earn either all-conference or all-region accolades in four seasons.

Defensively, Thomason committed only two errors in 45 chances, while throwing two runners out from the outfield.

Before Nebraska
Thomason is the fourth Kansas native to play for Nebraska since 2006. In her senior season for Blue Valley Northwest High School, Thomason was a Kansas Softball Coaches Association first-team all-state selection in Class 6A - the state’s largest class.

In a decorated career, Thomason posted impressive numbers. Her .498 career average was a Northwest record, as were her 157 career hits, 30 doubles, 17 triples, seven home runs, 81 RBIs and 62 runs scored. Thomason’s .498 career average eclipsed the previous record of .496, held by Christie Ambrosi, a 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist with Team USA and a 1999 first-team NFCA All-American for the national champion UCLA Bruins. Thomason also set single-season school records for hits (39), doubles (11), triples (7) and RBIs (24).

As a senior, Thomason played every inning at shortstop. She hit .507 with 18 runs, five doubles, six triples, two homers, 23 RBIs and 12 stolen bases while posting an .851 slugging percentage. In addition to her all-state selection, she was the 2009 All-Johnson County Sun Player of the Year and earned her third-straight All-Sun first-team selection.

As a junior, Thomason batted .470 with nine doubles, three triples, 22 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, a .742 slugging percentage and a .527 on-base percentage. As a sophomore in 2007, Thomason finished with a .527 average and 24 RBIs.

Thomason played her summer ball for the KC Peppers. The Peppers finished ninth at the 2008 ASA Gold National Championship tournament in Oklahoma City. Previously, Thomason played for the KC Zephyrs Gold from 2005 to 2007, the same team as Husker teammate Ashley Guile.

Personal
Brooke Thomason is the daughter of Wade and Kelly Thomason and was born on Feb. 21, 1991, in Phoenix, Ariz. Brooke has one sister, Kayla (25), who was an All-America cross country runner at Johnson County Community College. Brooke is an elementary education major.