Texas sophomore outfielder Kyle Russell moved into the national home run lead over the weekend by slugging his 20th home run of the season. In the process, he tied the Texas single-season school record, originally set by first baseman Jeff Ontiveros in 2002.
Unlike Russell, who is expected to be a first-round draft pick in June, Ontiveros was never drafted and didn’t reach the big leagues in a four-year minor league career with the Boston Red Sox that peaked out in high Class A in 2005. The accompanying list of the Longhorns’ top 10 single-season home run leaders produced three future first-rounders (Brooks Kieschnick, Scott Bryant and Danny Peoples), but only two future big leaguers (Kieschnick and Scott Coolbaugh).
With the 2007 season little more than halfway finished, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Russell has a chance to shatter the school home run record. |
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| Top 10 Single-Season Home Run Leaders |
| 1. |
Kyle Russell, 2007 |
20 |
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Jeff Ontiveros, 2002 |
20 |
| 3. |
Brooks Kieschnick, 1993 |
19 |
| 4. |
Scott Bryant, 1989 |
18 |
| 5. |
Mark Cridland, 1998 |
17 |
| |
Danny Peoples, 1996 |
17 |
| 7. |
Scott Coolbaugh, 1987 |
15 |
| |
Chris Abbe, 1992 |
15 |
| 9. |
Jay Searcy, 1986 |
14 |
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Jeff Ontiveros, 1999 |
14 |
| |
Brian Johnson, 1988 |
14 | |
| -- Allan Simpson |
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