No. 4 Texas swept KSU and the hottest hitter in America hit two more bombs
Ivan Melendez didn’t just continue his streak of consecutive games with a home run. He treated Longhorns fans to something they probably won’t ever see again at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. No. 4 Texas (25-8, 10-2) swept its second-straight Big 12 series with a 9-2 win over Kansas State (17-14, 2-7), won its eighth-straight game overall and is now 17-2 at home. But the incredible power of UT’s designated hitter made all that feel secondary.
“Guys just a great job of finishing the Sunday sweep,” said David Pierce. “I’m just really pumped up about the way Kolby came out and attacked, and I think that's the one thing that we've been trying to get him to be much more comfortable of just attacking hitters and trusting his stuff, trusting his defense. Then just outstanding situational hitting, taking advantage of the long ball. Mike getting us started and then Ivan just [wow]. Just doing what he does. He's strong, seeing the ball really well. And he's not trying to do too much, believe it or not. He's staying in the middle of the field. He's just got that much power.“
Great sweep for our team. I mean, you look back and you see how we had to deal with some adversity early in the series. How are our backups and our bench guys came off the bench and did a great job for us and then picked up the starters today. So, when you have that kind of camaraderie, unity and pulling for each other, it's pretty fun to watch and pretty fun for these guys to be a part of.”
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with his team leading 2-1, Melendez stepped to the plate and delivered one of the most impressive swings you’ll see from a Longhorn hitter. On a hard fastball away and off the plate a couple inches, Melendez extended his arms, barreled the pitch, and hammered a two-run homer that cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field. Again, the pitch was off the plate. And Melendez still hammered it over the batter’s eye, which was raised this season.
As it cleared the wall, I began to laugh in the press box because of the absurdly awesome display of power, and then I quickly realized that was his sixth-straight game with a homer. The NCAA all-time record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, and the way Melendez is swinging the bat, the record is in play...
READ THE REST OF OUR POSTGAME COVERAGE AND DISCUSS TEXAS BASEBALL INSIDE THE 40 ACRES
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