Conference USA Pitcher of the Week (May 2, 2016)
WKU Dean's List (Fall 2017)
2017 (RS Junior): Thurston was 1-of-2 Hilltoppers to start every weekend of the season, toeing the rubber 14 times ... Led WKU with 77.1 innings pitched, 4 wins and 93 strikeouts ... Started the first game of every weekend series; 11 on Friday, 2 on Thursday and 1 on Saturday ... Allowed 3 runs or fewer in 8-of-14 contests, including 2 earned runs vs. Jacksonville State and at Louisiana Tech ... Spun 25 strikeouts in back-to-back wins over Ohio and Illinois State in early March; after notching 11 punchouts vs. the Bobcats, the lefty came back a week later for a career-high 14 against the Redbirds ... The 14 strikeouts marked a WKU single-game best with program records dating back to 2005, surpassing the old mark of 13 by Matt Hightower on April 10, 2009 vs. New Orleans ... Threw a season-high 8-plus frames of 3-run ball at Marshall on May 5, striking out 9 while walking 1 on a career-high 134 pitches ... His 93 punchouts tied Matt Ridings' 2009 year for ninth all-time in a single season in program history, while the mark ranked fifth among Conference USA pitchers in 2017 ... With 38 starts and 226 innings on The Hill, he sits 1 start and 14.2 frames from cracking the top 10 all-time; meanwhile, his 212 strikeouts sits ninth in program history.
2016 (Junior): Beginning the season as WKU’s Sunday starter, Thurston eventually worked his way into the Friday role as the team’s most consistent - and occasionally dominant - pitcher ... Made 14 starts on the season, with a team-leading 5 quality efforts ... His best performance came vs. FIU on April 30, where Thurston threw a program-record 10 scoreless innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts, compared to only 1 walk ... For his effort, he was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week - the first WKU player to earn the honor in the newly-joined league ... At Georgia in the final game of the Bulldog Invitational on Feb. 28, he had 10 strikeouts in only 5.1 innings as the Hilltoppers eventually claimed the game by a score of 8-7.
2015 (Sophomore): Thurston began the season as WKU’s midweek starter but thrust himself into the Friday night role after strong early-season outings against No. 1 Vanderbilt, Belmont and No. 13 Mississippi State ... Was handed the reins as staff ace at UTSA and dealt 5.1 innings of 2-run baseball in the WKU win ... The next week against UAB, Thurston worked a season-long 7 innings and only allowed 1 run on 5 hits ... Injured his arm late in that UAB start, which resulted in Louisiana Tech inflating his ERA a week later and was shut down for the season following the start ... Finished the season 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 36 innings of work ... Excluding start at Louisiana Tech, Thurston was 2-0 with a 2.72 ERA and an opponent batting average of .208 in 9 career starts after his first 2 seasons.
2014 (Freshman): Thurston developed into WKU’s midweek starter and became a reliable bullpen arm down the stretch of his rookie season, finishing 2014 with a 2.16 ERA, the lowest of any Hilltopper ... Struck out 21 batters and allowed only 8 runs in 33.1 innings of work with a 1-0 record ... Allowed 3 runs over his final 28.2 innings, which included starts vs. Lipscomb, at No. 18 Indiana, at No. 12 Louisville and at Austin Peay ... Earned his first-career start in a midweek duel against Lipscomb and allowed 2 hits over 5 scoreless innings while striking out a pair ... Put together the finest performance of his young career at No. 18 Indiana, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning before surrendering a hit to All-American Kyle Schwarber, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft. Struck out 7 batters in Bloomington, holding the eventual Big 10 Champions off the scoreboard in his second career start ... Did not give up a run in 3 innings of work at No. 12 Louisville ... Picked up his first win the following week at Austin Peay, striking out 6 batters, while scattering 5 hits and 3 runs over 7 innings ... With no more midweek action left, he was moved to the bullpen late in the season and gave WKU its strongest relief outing of the year at UT Arlington. With starter Josh Bartley getting knocked out after 3 innings, Thurston stepped on the mound and threw 5 scoreless innings while allowing only 2 hits to keep WKU in the game ... Finished his rookie season ranked second on the team with a 1.38 WHIP.
At Madison HS: Earned 4 letters in baseball and 3 letters in basketball ... Was a 3-time All-Conference selection and was All-State Honorable Mention following his senior year ... Was named team MVP during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
