Ivan Melendez 2022 Best Collegiate Baseball Player

AUSTIN, Texas - Ivan Melendez becomes the fourth Texas Longhorn in history to be named Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year just four days after hitting his 29th home run of the season - another school single season record.

No. 9 Texas Baseball's Melendez leads the country in home runs with 29, a .903 slugging percentage, and 196 total bases. Melendez is ranked second in the country with 87 RBI, fourth with a .522 on-base percentage and eighth with a .406 batting average.

Melendez is also a semi-finalist for the 2022 Golden Spikes Award. Finalist will be announced June 8 and sent to the voting body for their vote between Jun 8-14.

29th Home Run

In the first inning of the 2022 Big 12 Championship game, Ivan Melendez sent the third pitch over the wall in right center for his 29th home run of the season breaking a school single season record. Days prior to the game, Melendez was name 2022 Big 12 Player of the Year.

The day after the game, the NCAA announced the NCAA Regional matchups and we were on hand in the locker room when Texas was matched with Air Force for the first game.

After the announcement Melendez spoke with media and commented that hitting a home run is not easy. We then asked, "How do you make it look so easy?" Here is Ivan's response:

"I mean, you just said it wasn't easy. How did you make it look so easy? Ah, I don't know. I think just going up there with the right plan. You know, baseball, a game of failure you're going to get out more times than you hit. You strike out more times than you hit home runs. And so, I mean, just going up with the right approach, going up with the right plan mentality, you know, getting that one pitch, that one fastball that you get out of the, you know, maybe the one or two you just can't miss."

Melendez is not just a great baseball player, He also is a great man who contributes to the community and gives back.