Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — After a powerful outburst that tied a school record, junior outfielder Reid Russell was invited to participate in the 2016 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby, slated to start at 7:30 p.m. CDT Sunday on ESPN 2, it was announced Monday.

Russell, who pounded 18 homers in the 2016 campaign, will face off against seven other premier hitters from around the country, and is the only Southland Conference hitter invited and first player from Lamar to be selected for the event — which started in 2010.

The derby will be played at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series.

“I have been bugging Coach [Will] Davis for a while that I wanted to get in this, and he called me and told me a couple of weeks ago I was in,” said Russell. “I am so excited.

“It was definitely a fun year. There was a lot of hard work put into it,” he said. “I certainly couldn’t have done it without my coaches and teammates.”

Russell was named as the Southland Conference Hitter of the Year and American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Central Region First Team. He joined Michael Ambort atop the school record list for long balls in a season, had the most in the Southland Conference and ranked 13^th in the country on the year.

The junior-transfer had a stretch of five games with a homer, and then reeled off an 18-game hit streak — which ranks seventh all-time at Lamar.

“It will be so great to represent Lamar, Southeast Texas and the Southland Conference in Omaha,” said Russell.

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 with a .665 slugging percentage and had a .410 on-base percentage. He was second in the league in total bases and slugging, fourth in hitting and seventh in total hits.

Graduated equipment manager Justin Eckols, former Lamar baseball player, will be Russell’s pitcher.

“I told him if I got in it I would bring him with me,” said Russell. “He will probably be the youngest pitcher of there, but it will be good. It will be fun.”

The College Home Run Derby includes three rounds of play: the first round features all contestants, the second round has the hitters with the top four scores after round one, and the final round features the top two sluggers after round two.

New for the 2016 competition, contestants in each round will have a timed period of 4 minutes to hit as many home runs as they can, rather than the traditional 10-out method used in past derbies. Once the timed period concludes, contestants will have one final opportunity to hit a home run with the “Bonus Ball.” If successful, two additional home runs will be added to the contestant’s total score.

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Tickets for the derby are $8 for children (ages 3-12), $12 for adults or $36 for a “Family Four Pack” – which can be purchased in-person from the CenturyLink Center arena box offices, by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.