Ben Van Nuffel

Ben Van Nuffel

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lbs.

• Born May 1, 1993 in Borgerhout Belgium

Biographical Information

Ben Van Nuffel has played for the Belgian national team.

Van Nuffel debuted in the First Division in 2009 with the Mortsel Stars, going 0-4 with a 14.34 ERA and walking 35 in under 22 innings. He was 1 for 12 at the plate. In the 2009 European Junior Championship, he went 0-1 with a 15.75 ERA, giving up 10 hits and 4 walks in 4 innings. He went 8 for 49 with 5 walks and 16 whiffs for Mortsel in 2010 and did not pitch. The next year, he batted .188/.280/.212 with the Stars and posted a 0-1, 6.43 record with 18 walks in 14 innings. In the 2011 European Junior Championship, he hit .273/.467/.545 and tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings, saving a win over France.

Van Nuffel moved to the Hoboken Pioneers for 2012 but continued to hit poorly (.158/.286/.158, 30 K in 76 AB). He fielded .820 and only pitched 3 innings (3 runs, 1 earned). He was 0 for 13 with a walk and 6 whiffs in the 2012 European Cup, while allowing 3 runs in 2 innings. He was still picked to pitch for Belgium in the 2012 European Championship. He allowed 4 runs in 7 1/3 innings. Starting against the Croatian national team, he gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 6 1/3 innings with 4 hits but 8 walks, getting the win in the 9th/10th place game; Kenneth Sips relieved and got the save.

In 2013, he played for the Brasschaat Braves. He went 2-0 with 3 saves and a 2.18 ERA, giving up 17 hits and 23 walks while he struck out 44 in 33 innings. He finished 4th in ERA and led the league in saves. That same year, he played for the Falcons on the CBLE Tournament in Oosterhout, he went 1-0 while only giving up 1 hit and struck out 11 in 5 2/3 innings.

Van Nuffel pitched for the Oosterhout Twins in Overgangsklasse in 2014. He had a 2.83 ERA, striking out 48 and giving up 27 hits in 41 1/3 IP. That same season, he also appeared with the Brasschaat Braves in the European Qualifier in Antwerp. In total he threw 4 innings, he allowed 1 hit, 3 unearned runs and 2 walks and logged 4 strikeouts. He ended the season by pitching for the Belgium National Team at the 2014 European Championship at Regensburg. For the tournament he was 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in 3 1/3 IP.

For the 2015 season , Ben pitched for the Oosterhout Twins in Overgangsklasse, but this year as a starter. He went 12-0 in 101 2/3 innings with an ERA of 1.41. He allowed 64 hits and 25 runs, of which 16 were earned. Van Nuffel struck out 71 batters and walked 41. The Twins team won the championship as well as the promotion series against the Dordrecht Hawks to claim a spot to play in Hoofdklasse for 2016.

Van Nuffel made is Hoofdklasse debut in 2016 in the opening game against defending champion Curaçao Neptunus. He went 3.0 innings with 1 hit, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts and didn't gave up any runs. For the regular season he only pitched 36.0 innings with a record of 1-5 and a 5.00 ERA, giving up 30 hits, 28 runs (20 earned) and striking out 28.

He also appeared again for the Belgian national team at the 2016 European Championship at Hoofddorp, Netherlands. Starting against the Czech Republic, he did pretty well, going 6 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and earned only 1 run. The Belgian national team finished 6th.

Sources

• Belgian baseball federation
• European baseball federation