Texas Frosh Russell Named Big 12 Player of the Week

March 5 , 2006

For Immediate Release

DALLAS, TX — After helping lead the Longhorns to four victories last week, University of Texas freshman Kyle Russell was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week as well as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pro-Line Cap National Hitter of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

The weekly accolades not only mark the first of the 2006 season awarded to any Longhorns player, but are also the first of Russell's career.

The Magnolia, Texas, native not only headlined the team with a .643 batting average (9-for-14) and nine RBI during last week's action, but also paced the club with 15 total bases for a 1.071 slugging mark. Additionally, Russell hit safely in all five contests while posting two of his four multi-hit efforts on the year and a pair of multi-RBI performances. Adding to his accomplishments over the past week, Russell, who started all five games at either first base, in right field or as the team's designated hitter, also posted individual game career-bests for runs scored (3 on Feb. 24), hits (3 on Feb. 26) and RBI (4 on Feb. 26) during Texas' three-game series with Villanova.

For the year, Russell currently leads the Horns in batting (.481), RBI (11), slugging (.852), on-base percentage (.583) and multi-RBI contests (4). He also boasts eight runs scored, three doubles, two triples, one home run and six walks in 11 games.

Up next, Russell and the Longhorns travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to open a three-game series against the UNLV Rebels on Friday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m. Central. Catch all of the action by tuning into 1300 AM "The Zone" in Austin or by logging on to live stats and audio via www.TexasSports.com.