We are nearing closer and closer to the end of the regular season in college baseball, and with that, closer to June. We've seen a large portion of the season and have gotten a good look at the top teams and players, so we have a pretty good idea about the top home run hitters too. There are, of course, a lot. So I took into consideration teams ranked in the top 25, and if not that, other factors, including how tough their competition has been.
CWS PREDICTIONS: Field of 64, projected
Don't worry, we still will get to see plenty of homers. But here are the top home run hitters and sluggers so far.
Ivan Melendez — Texas
Ivan Melendez is a sure thing for this list. Just get ready for these numbers... He leads the nation in homers right now with 25 as of May 13. And not only that, but he hits for an incredibly high average .422 (think about that)… which is third in the NCAA. So he doesn't miss often, and he hits for power with a .935 slugging percentage. Again... that leads the nation. These numbers are unreal. A monster season for Ivan Melendez.
Kevin Parada — Georgia Tech
Kevin Parada at Georgia Tech is tied for second in the NCAA with 23 bombs this season. He is just a sophomore this year, making it all the more impressive. He is hitting .363 with a team leading 74 RBI, which ranks third in the NCAA. This is against tough ACC competition too. On top of that, he is pretty familiar with multi-home run games. He hit two home runs in five games this season.
Matt Coutney — Old Dominion
Parada is tied with Matt Coutney at Old Dominion. I know Old Dominion is not ranked, but if you hit 23 bombs you have got to be on this list. Coutney has already doubled his homer number from last season, where he hit 10. He is hitting .360 as well and is slugging over .800.
Tommy White — NC State
First national honor of the season for @tommywhite44, as he's been named one of @CBNewspaper's National Players of the Week. pic.twitter.com/D4UulvdTus
— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) February 21, 2022
Tommy White makes the list. I mean obviously, a guy that has been nicknamed Tommy Tanks has to be one of the top home run hitters, right? White has 21 homers so far this season. He had a really hot start to the season and made national headlines in his freshman year debut. He cooled down a bit since then, but he is heating up again. He just hit eight homers in the past 10 games for NC State in ACC play.
Max Wagner — Clemson
Max Wagner at Clemson is another guy that not only leads his team in average, but in homers too. He is hitting a team-high .391 with 23 home runs so far this season. He is second in the NCAA in slugging behind Melendez with a .899 slugging percentage. And get this...he had just two home runs last season, so quite the improvement.
UPCOMING: Conference tournament brackets, schedule and autobids
Trey Lipscomb — Tennessee
MAMMOTH BLAST! Ninth of the year for Trey!
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) March 20, 2022
6-0 Big Orange
📺 https://t.co/OYHfXPS0sq#GBO // #OTH // #BeatSC pic.twitter.com/R6hkof2Mwn
Trey Lipscomb is in the midst of a great season for the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers. He is hitting over .350 with 70 RBI and 20 bombs for the current best team in the nation. Plus you have to think about playing baseball in the SEC, going up against tough pitchers day in and day out.
Jud Fabian — Florida
Fabian is another player raking in the SEC. He is up to 19 home runs so far as of May 13 for the Florida Gators. Fabian became just the fifth Gator to hit 20 homers in a season last year, and he is on pace to break 20 this year.
Jake Gelof — Virginia
Jake Gelof is having a terrific season for Virginia. He was the D1Baseball.com Midseason Player of the Year, and was mentioned in multiple interviews with them in discussion for Player of the Year. And yes, he hits for power. Gelof recorded multi-homer games four times this season and is up to 17 home runs as of May 13. He is hitting .376 and slugging .780.
Sonny DiChiara — Auburn
Now, if we're going to mention D1Baseball Player of the Year finalists, Sonny DiChiara is their top pick. DiChiara has 16 bombs so far this season, but he is hitting an astronomical .412 at the plate and has an .838 slugging percentage, which is No. 4 in the nation.
His name is @SonnyDichiara and he hits dingers!#NCAABaseball x 🎥 @AuburnBaseball pic.twitter.com/bWHfOomo1l
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 11, 2022
Dalton Rushing — Louisville
Dalton Rushing has smashes 17 homers so far this season for the top-10 ranked Cards. On top of that he is hitting over .300 on the season so far.
Tayler Aguilar — Grand Canyon
Tayler Aguilar has an impressive 17 home runs on the season, which leads his team. Grand Canyon is ranked in the D1Baseball top 25 this season and has some big wins over ranked teams. Aguilar hit a bomb in the win over Stanford and notched four RBI in the win.
Tim Elko — Ole Miss
Elko has hit 17 homers so far this season for the Ole Miss Rebels. He is hitting over .300 this season with a team-best 56 RBI.
Chris Alleyne — Maryland
Chris Alleyne makes the list at Maryland. Alleyne has hit 17 homers so far this season for the Terps, as they reached No. 18 in the D1Baseball top 25 rankings.
There are SO many more names that could make this list. Jacob Berry and Dylan Crews at LSU are known for their power and they have 15 and 16 home runs on the season, respectively. Only a little ways to go for the rest of the season with selections on May 30 for the 2022 NCAA baseball postseason.
