Pettway, Mora Named Candidates for Senior CLASS Award

UCLA senior right-handed pitchers Zach Pettway and Kyle Mora have been selected as two of 30 candidates for the 2021 Senior Class Award, it was announced on Thursday. The award honors senior student-athletes who excel both on and off the field.

UCLA is one of three schools with multiple candidates for the award, joining Notre Dame and Miami. Bruins represent half of the Pac-12's four candidates, with Oregon State (Jake Mulholland) and California (Darren Baker) registering one candidate apiece.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Pettway has been named to the UCLA Athletic Director's Honor Roll five times so far during his Bruin career, and has been a team captain in each of the past two seasons. UCLA's Opening Day starter in 2019 and 2020, and the team's Friday night starter in 2021, Pettway is 13-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 210 2/3 career innings. The Long Beach native was a First Team All-American in 2020 after logging a 1.30 ERA and 29-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Mora has been a team captain in each of the last three seasons, and is the only documented three-time captain in the 101-year history of the UCLA baseball program. Mora has been one of the top relievers in college baseball during his time in Westwood; he led the country with 47 appearances while recording a 2.09 ERA in 2019, and posted a 0.96 ERA over 11 appearances (second-most in the NCAA) during the truncated 2020 campaign. As of Apr. 8, Mora owns 111 career appearances, tied for third-most in program history. He's on pace to finish his career with the second-most appearances in UCLA lore, trailing only David Berg's NCAA-record 175.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in May, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches, and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character, and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2021 College World Series® in June.

For more information on all of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.