AUSTIN (KXAN) — He’s the single-season home run king for the Texas Longhorns, and now he’s the all-time leader in round trippers for the Amarillo Sod Poodles.
Ivan Melendez belted his 49th homer for the Double-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks in the eighth inning Wednesday, helping lift the Sod Poodles to a 5-3 Texas League win over the Frisco RoughRiders.
Melendez’s historic blast was a 3-run shot over the center field wall at Hodgetown in Amarillo. It was his 15th of the season, second in the Texas League only to Wichita’s Kyler Fedko with 17.
The record-breaking homer wasn’t as majestic as some of the long balls he hit out of UFCU Disch-Falk Field that earned him the “Hispanic Titanic” moniker, but it still counted. The ball bounced off the center field concourse back into the field of play, causing Melendez to chug around the bases like a freight train and dive into third, thinking it wasn’t a homer. The third base coach told him to get up and jog the rest of the way.
For the season, Melendez is hitting .259 with a team-leading .866 on-base plus slugging percentage. He was the No. 43 overall pick of the Diamondbacks in the 2022 MLB draft after smashing a Longhorns record 32 home runs and winning the Golden Spikes Award.