Claerhout again honored as National Player of the Week
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the second time this season, Bellevue University senior Carter Claerhout (Red Deer, Alberta) has been named the NAIA National Player of the Week after leading the No. 3-ranked Bruins to a five-game series sweep over Dakota State University last week.
The sweep allowed Bellevue to clinch the Frontier Conference regular-season title outright, moving the Bruins to 40-3 overall and a perfect 20-0 in league play. The series finale saw BU post their 28th-straight victory, breaking the previous mark of 27 which they had matched earlier on the day.
Claerhout was the offensive catalyst for the Bruins throughout the week, batting .682 (15-for-22) with four home runs and 10 RBI. He also scored 10 runs, produced seven extra-base hits, and posted a 2.060 OPS and a 1.364 slugging percentage over the five-game stretch.
Claerhout recorded at least three hits in four different games during the week and extended his current hitting streak to 21 games. He currently leads the NAIA in batting average (.488), hits (81), and total bases (155) as well as second in slugging percentage (.934) and OPS (1.463), and fifth in home runs (19). His season totals now include 56 RBI, .529 on-base percentage, 15 doubles, 56 runs scored, and he is 10-11 stolen bases.
In addition to being the national leader in three offensive categories, Claerhout tops the Frontier Conference in the following categories: hits, batting average, OPS, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, run, home runs, RBI, total bases, and sac flies. He is also second with 15 doubles, sixth in triples, and seventh in stolen bases.
He is Bellevue's first NAIA National Player of the Week to be a repeat honoree after previously having been recognized on Mar. 31.
The Bruins return to action this weekend with a four-game series against Bismarck State College to close out the regular season. With a less-than-ideal forecast for Bismarck, N.D., the final schedule for the series will remain fluid.