Gutierrez Finishes Fourth at College Home Run Derby
July 02, 2015 | Baseball
July 2, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech junior first baseman Eric Gutierrez put on another solid performance at the College Home Run Derby held in Omaha on Thursday night as he cleared the TD Ameritrade Park fence 17 times en route to finishing fourth overall.
Gutierrez, hitting in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN as well as the 20,087 in attendance, crushed nine home runs in the opening round before adding eight more a short time later. The 2014 runner-up was the final participant to hit in the first round.
His 17 combined home runs finished seven shy of advancing to the finals as Wake Forest standout Will Craig led the eight-player field with 25 long balls, one more than the total of North Dakota's Jeff Campton. Georgia Tech's Kel Johnson narrowly missed advancing to the finals after recording 23 combined home runs.
Campton went on to win the derby title after defeating Craig in the final round with 10 home runs. Craig, who was tied with Gutierrez following the opening round, totaled five home runs in his final plate appearance.
Gutierrez was the only participant making a return trip the College Home Run Derby as he set an event record with 52 home runs in 2014. That record still stands after Campton led all players with 34 home runs over the three rounds.
Gutierrez, a native of Mission, Texas, also held the individual records for total home runs after both the first and second rounds. His first-round mark fell early in the night as Campton totaled 20 long balls in the opening round alone.
The eight participants shattered the College Home Run Derby record with 79 home runs in the first round. The group fell just one home run shy of matching the three-round record set just a year ago.
Blessed and honored to represent TEXAS TECH for the 2nd year WRECKEM thanks for everyones support
-- Eric Gutierrez (@Eric2824) July 3, 2015
