Posted: May 10, 2011
Tournament Website
Live Stats
This Week
The Bellevue University baseball team returns to action on Thursday, May 12 when they begin the 2011 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round against William Jewell College at 10:00 a.m. in Paducah, Ky.
The Bruins earned the automatic berth after capturing the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 4-3 victory over No. 24 York College on Friday, May 6 in York.
Live Stats
All tournament games will include free live stats.
Tournament Bracket
Bellevue earned a No. 4 seed in the tournament and will play fifth seeded William Jewell (Mo.) College in its first game at 10:00 a.m. William Jewell (33-19) advanced to the opening round by defeating MidAmerica Nazarene University, 5-0, in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship game.
Teams competing in the Paducah bracket include:
- No. 1 Cumberland (Tenn.)
- No. 2 Southern Poly (Ga.)
- No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan
- No. 4 Bellevue
- No. 5 William Jewell
The National Championship Opening Round consists of nine different sites around the country May 12-16. Each site features a five-team double-elimination tournament with the winners joining host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. The 55th annual event will be played May 27-June 3 at Harris Field.
This marks Bellevue’s 13th appearance in the NAIA Baseball National Tournament and its second time in the Opening Round since the Opening Round format was adopted in 2009.
Scouting Bellevue
Bellevue, the MCAC Tournament Champions, has won seven of its last eight games and is 31-20 overall and finished second in the MCAC with a 13-4 league record. The Bruins are coming off of a 4-3 win at York College on Friday, May 6 in the championship game of the conference tournament at Levitt Stadium.
Anthony Bazant, this year’s MCAC Player of the Year, leads the team in hitting, batting .446 with 59 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 57 RBIs. He has also stolen 29 bases in 34 attempts and has a .510 on-base percentage this season. Hector Morales is third on the team with a .373 batting average and has hit 11 doubles with 42 runs scored and 32 stolen bases. Junior Martinez hits .349 with 52 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, 21 RBIs and ranks second in the NAIA with 42 stolen bases.
Mike Andrick, who was named the Most Valuable Player in the MCAC Tournament, leads the Bruins’ pitching staff with a 9-4 record with 63 strikeouts, seven complete games and a 4.02 ERA in 87.1 innings of work. Eric Locke leads the team with a 2.53 ERA and has compiled a 7-1 record with 40 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
BU is batting .326 this season with an on-base percentage of .411 and a .464 slugging percentage. The Bruins have stolen 153 bases this season which ranks fourth in the NAIA. The pitching staff has an ERA of 5.01 in 357.2 innings pitched with 300 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .261 against BU with an on-base percentage of .363 and a slugging percentage of .375.
Meet Coach Monlux
In Duane Monlux’s first season as the Bruins’ head baseball coach, he led Bellevue to an overall record of 31-20 and to a second place finish in the MCAC with a 13-4 league mark. He also led the Bruins to the conference tournament championship over top seeded York College to earn a trip to the NAIA Opening Round.
This season, he coached the MCAC Newcomer and Player of the Year, as well as five first team all-conference selections and four second team selections.
Prior to coming to Bellevue, Monlux spent the previous nine seasons as the head coach at Dickinson State University, where he guided the Blue Hawks to three Dakota Athletic Conference regular season and three DAC tournament titles.
Monlux is assisted by Mitch Schmidt, Shawn Malley, Jake Jadlowski, Richie Moore and Chris Williamson.
Bazant Highlights All-MCAC Selections
Senior Anthony Bazant was named the 2011 MCAC Player of the Year and five Bruins earned first team all-conference honors in announcement made on May 5 in conjunction with the 2011 MCAC Baseball Tourament.
Joining Bazant on the first team were second baseman Junior Martinez, left fielder Hector Morales, designated hitter Juan Rodriguez and left-handed pitcher Eric Locke. In addition, Martinez and Bazant were also named to the MCAC Gold Glove Team.
Bruins on the second team included short stop Tylor Pavel, first baseman Brandon Thompson, right fielder Francisco Rosario, and right-handed pitcher Mike Andrick.
MCAC Player of the Year - Anthony Bazant, Bellevue
MCAC Pitcher of the Year - Chris Needham, Oklahoma Wesleyan
MCAC Freshman of the Year - Kraig Kelley, Oklahoma Wesleyan
MCAC Newcomer of the Year - Junior Martinez, Bellevue
MCAC Coach of the Year - Nick Harlan, York
Martinez Ranks Second in Stolen Bases
Second baseman Junior Martinez ranks second in the NAIA in stolen bases this season with 42. He swiped a career-high four bases at Embry-Riddle University on March 6 and has stolen at least one base in 29 games this season.
Martinez, who was named the MCAC Newcomer of the Year, is batting .349 with 12 doubles, four triples, 21 RBIs and has a .426 on-base percentage. He is second on the team with 52 runs scored.
Last Game Recap
YORK, Neb. -- The Bellevue University (31-20) baseball team scored three runs in the seventh inning to complete a 4-3 back-from-behind victory against top-seeded York College (39-14) in the championship game of the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at Levitt Stadium.
The Bruins earn the automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, May 12-15.
BU took the lead in the seventh inning scoring three runs on two hits and capitalized on two errors by YC. Kelvin Nelson scored on a balk for the first run of the inning. A steal by Anthony Bazant allowed Junior Martinez to score from third on the throw. BU scored the game-winning run on a RBI single by Francisco Rosario.
Mike Andrick earned the win and tournament MVP honors while improving to 8-4 this season. The senior from San Francisco, Calif., pitched eight innings and allowed just four hits with eight strikeouts. After allowing a lead-off double, Sean Mattson retired the next three batters to pick up his first save of the season. Relief pitcher Bruce Amende took the loss for the Panthers, falling to 8-4 this year.
MCAC Baseball All-Tournament Team
Six Bruins were named to the MCAC Baseball all-tournament team highlighted by Mike Andrick who was named the MVP.
The all-tournament team included:
C Gene Felise, York College
1st Nick Nguyen, York College
2nd Junior Martinez, Bellevue University
3rd Sam Feiner, York College
SS Tylor Pavel, Bellevue University
INF Jeff Bernacil, York College
OF Anthony Bazant, Bellevue University
OF Cory Ford, Oklahoma Wesleyan University
OF Brett Nathan, York College
OF Jonathan Castillo, Peru State College
DH Juan Rodriguez, Bellevue University
SP Bruce Amende, York College
SP Mike Andrick, Bellevue University
RP Robert Greco, Bellevue University
Most Valuable Player: Mike Andrick, Bellevue University
