Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT — After he was tagged as the Southland Conference Hitter of the Year, junior outfielder Reid Russell added another honor to his list when the American Baseball Coaches Association voted him to the Rawling South Central All-Region First Team, the organization announced Wednesday.
With him being named as a first-team member, he, along with two other league athletes, are nominated to be voted on as ABCA/Rawling All-Americans. Russell is the fifth Cardinal to be named the ABCA sqaud in the last four years, most recently Stijn van der Meer in 2015.
Russell tied a school record for home runs in a season (18) set by Michael Ambort in 2005, and topped the Southland Conference and ranked 13th in the nation. His 0.33 homers per game was the seventh highest in the country. He knocked in 62 runs on the season, and is the first 60-RBI Cardinal since Ambort’s 63 in 2007.
The Longview native hit .354 in his first campaign, which was second on the team, with 73 base knocks and nine doubles. He scored 41 runs and wrapped up the year at .665 slugging percentage and a .410 on-base percentage. He was second in the league in total bases and slugging, fourth in hitting and seventh in total hits.
In league play, Russell hit .379 with 12 homers, 43 RBI and 26 runs.
The junior transfer rattled of an 18-game hit streak, which ranks seventh in school history. He is one of five Cardinals to record multiple-homer games during the season, his was at Incarnate Word when he was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and four pushed across.