BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bellevue University baseball coach Duane Monlux announced today the signing of Tyler Monroe (Lincoln, Neb./Central Arkansas) to a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic careers at BU beginning in the fall.
Monroe, a 5-11, 180-pound middle infielder, joins the Bruins from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark. He began his collegiate career in the Junior College ranks spending one season each at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb. and Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Neb.
He excelled at the JuCo ranks hitting .358 with a 1.036 OPS across 115 games played. He racked up 34 doubles and 11 home runs among 53 extra-base hits, drove in 83 runs, scored 128 runs, and stole 39 bases in 44 attempts.
This past season with UCA, he played in 19 games with four starts for the Bears. He hit .250 in his four starts, tripling against National Champion LSU and doubling in a 3-for-12 weekend against Queens University. He also scored nine runs on the year and stole a pair of bases without being caught.
Coach Monlux on Monroe:
"We are really excited to be adding Tyler to our Bruin family. He is a very talented offensive player that hits for average, has shown power, and runs very well. He was a top of the order hitter for both Northeast CC and Southeast CC during his JuCo seasons. We are really looking forwrad to seeing him in a Bruin uniform for the next two years."
Monroe joins the previously announced Brady Toth (RHP, Boise, Idaho/Columbia Basin College), Jace Wessels (RHP, Clarkston, Wash./Columbia Basin College), Danny Spongberg (OF, Omaha, Neb./Southeast CC), Steven Elsner (1B/OF, San Francisco, Calif./College of Marin), Nick Johnstone (C, Brisbane, Australia/South Suburban College), Jayden Vinson (LHP, Portland, Ore./Mt. Hood CC), Brody Burnette (RHP, Kansas City, Mo./Hesston College), Bryce Zimmerer (OF, Creighton, Neb./South Dakota State), Sam Fortier (Quebec City, Que./Southwestern Oklahoma State), Kole Bennett (RHP, Maple Valley, Wash./Bellevue College), Antony Gilbert (MIF, Quebec City, Que./Northeastern Oklahoma A&M), and Cade Herrmann (RHP, Omaha, Neb./Western Illinois) in the Bruins' 2023 recruiting class.
Bellevue is coming off a 2023 season in which the program reached the Avista NAIA World Series for the 16th time in program history. During the campaign, the Bruins posted a 48-10 overall mark, going 25-3 in conference play while sweeping both the NSAA Regular-Season and Tournament titles. BU parlayed the league's lone automatic bid into the program's 25th NAIA National Tournament Appearance, hosting their fifth Opening Round at Don Roddy Field and defeating Oklahoma City in the Championship Game to reach the Avista NAIA World Series for the third time in four seasons.
