PERTH, Australia - Former Fairfield University Stag Tucker Nathans '11 is one of three Baltimore Orioles prospects that are headed to the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) the organization announced yesterday.

Nathans, who signed a minor league deal with the Orioles out of Spring Training, heads to the Heat after a solid first season in class A. Nathans began the year in the South Atlantic League playing for the Delmarva Shorebirds where he hit .271 with nine homers and 38 RBIs in 63 games. He then moved up to the Frederick Keys in the Carolina League where hit .277 with 18 RBI in 45 games.

Prior to signing with the Orioles, Nathans was named the 2012 Can-Am League Rookie of the Year after hitting .307 in his first year as a member of the Newark Bears. As the Bears' second baseman, Nathans appeared in 56 games collecting 30 RBI, 28 runs scored, and 61 hits, including five homers, nine doubles, and three triples.

Nathans graduated from Fairfield University in 2011 as the program leader hits (263), doubles (61), and triples (10) as well as second all-time in runs scored with 141, one run shy of the program record. Nathans, who never missed a game in 193 opportunities and made 180 consecutive starts as a Stag, is also second all-time in career RBI (155) and batting average (.352), fifth in career slugging percentage (.536), and seventh in home runs (19). Nathans capped off his senior season by earning his second-straight NEIBA All-Star First Team selection and led the Stags in nearly every major offensive category en route to All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Second Team honors.

Baltimore pitching prospects Kevin Grendell and Zach Staniewicz will join Nathans in Perth. The 2013-14 ABL season gets underway on November 1 with the Heat hosting the Sydney Blue Sox in a four-game series.