El Pasoan and Coronado High School grad Ivan Melendez hit a towering home run on Friday in the Texas Longhorn’s 8-1 win over Kansas.

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The NEXT homerun he hits will break the all-time Longhorn record for Most Home Runs in a Season.

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Here’s that bomb over the left-field wall to tie the record:

Melendez’s stats for this season are insane.  He’s batting .421 with 85 RBIs and leads the nation in slugging percentage with .941.  Just…WOW!

Melendez is bringing fans out to the ballpark, and many of those fans are wearing a Longhorn jersey with his name on it. It would be interesting to know what kind of money he’s getting now that we’re in the Name-Image-Likeness era.  Whatever it is, it’s bound to be even more in the upcoming MLB draft.

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Interesting side-note: Ivan Melendez was NOT heavily recruited from Coronado High. Before transferring to Texas, his road to UT took him through Odessa Junior College for two seasons.

The nickname, “Hispanic Titanic,” may have to do with his 6”3’ 225-pound frame. Or, possibly it’s the towering homers that inspire such awe. For instance, he is knocking one so far out of the park that it almost hits a passing vehicle in traffic. The only reason it doesn’t is that it goes OVER the road.

Melendez will PROBABLY win the Golden Spikes, college baseball’s “Heisman.” He’ll most likely break that single-season home run record. He MIGHT win the college world series after coming oh-so-close last season. First things first, though: the Big 12 championship tournament begins this Wednesday as Melendez, and the ‘Horns will be in Arlington vs. Oklahoma State.'

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Texas fans and El Pasoans who love to see a local boy doing good can catch the action starting at 8 am MOUNTAIN time this Wednesday on ESPNU.

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