Olivet Baseball Alums Shine in MLB Spring Training

ARIZONA – Tuesday afternoon proved to be an exciting day for two former Olivet Nazarene University baseball standouts. In the top of the seventh inning of the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox split squad game on Tuesday first baseman Josh Altmann belted a solo shot to leftfield for his first homerun of spring training. Altmann's homerun was his first hit of the spring as he now has a .333 batting average and 1.333 slugging percentage in three at-bats.

Altmann played for Olivet Nazarene from 2013-2015 and was a two-time CCAC All-Conference First Team selection. He batted .432 during the 2015 season and became the 24th player in Olivet Nazarene University history to play professionally. Altmann was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 22nd round with the 648th pick on Wednesday, June 10. Altmann finished his career fifth all-time in ONU history in batting average (.386) with 174 hits, a .499 slugging percentage and .479 on-base percentage and 62 stolen bases.

Last year he played 53 games in his first year in the Rangers organization: 46 games with Texas in the Arizona Rookie League and seven with the High Desert Mavericks in the A (Advanced) California League. He batted .250 with 45 hits, 17 for extra bases. Altmann had 29 RBIs, a .710 OPS and 10 stolen bases.

"For Josh, it was surreal to get the call from his father, Walt, who was actually at the game," mentioned ONU head baseball coach Todd Reid. "It really didn't sink in for me until seeing it on MLB.com. I also received work from the scout who signed him about how great of a spring he is having."

In addition, Ben Heller, a hard-throwing right-hander struck out two batters in the ninth inning for the Cleveland Indians in their game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Heller helped preserve a 1-1 tie not allowing the Angles to score the winning run. Tuesday's outing was his first of the spring.

Heller played for the Tigers from 2010-2013 and graduated from Olivet in May of 2013. He struck out 260 batters in his career and became the 23rd player in Olivet Nazarene University history to play professionally. Heller was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 22nd round with the 651st pick in the 2013 draft. He was the first former Tiger drafted in the MLB First-Year Player Draft since Ben Zobrist (184th pick) in 2004 by the Houston Astros.

During his senior campaign for the Tigers, he was been named to the first All-NCCAA North Central Region Team and All-CCAC Second Team. Heller appeared in 17 games and finished with an 8-4 record. He started 13 games and threw four complete games with one shutout. He pitched a total of 81 2/3 innings and had a 3.42 ERA. He allowed 70 hits, 48 runs (31 earned), 36 walks and had 79 strikeouts. Following Heller's four years he was second all-time among Tigers in four categories: wins (26), appearances (61), innings pitched (301.1), and strikeouts (260).

Last year he appeared in 41 games in his third year with the Indians organization: 36 games with Lynchburg Hillcats of A (Advanced) Carolina League and five with the Akron RubberDucks in the AA Eastern League. He threw 40 1/3 innings with a 4.02 ERA, going 0-2 with 12 saves. Heller struck out 58 and only walked 14 allowing a .224 opponent's batting average against.

Reid had this to say about Ben; "We have come to expect to hear this kind of news about Ben Heller. He has had a tremendous pro career thus far and really paved the way for others in the CCAC. I had a chance to speak with him this morning and he told me even more great news; that although he is slated to begin the year in Akron (AA), he will be traveling with Big League club this weekend to play the Texas Rangers in their pre-season exhibition series at Arlington Stadium."

"I also had a chance to share with Ben Zobrist that a 1-3 day with the Cubs just wasn't going to cut it anymore. I told him he's got some ONU Tigers on his heels."