‘Fired up’ for the new season

UTRGV Baseball prepares for 2024

A month remains until the beginning of the 2024 UTRGV Baseball season, as Derek Matlock will aim for his fifth 30-win season in his seven years as the Vaqueros’ head coach. 

The Vaqueros finished last season with a 30-26 record, finishing 15-14 in Western Athletic Conference play and appearing in the conference tournament for the fourth straight season.

“I’m just excited to get back on the field,” Matlock said. “When you don’t have a great finish in the conference tournament, you just wanna play again. So, we’re just fired up for the competition against other teams.”

UTRGV Baseball added 19 new players during the offseason. The Rider asked Matlock about the impact the new arrivals will have on the team.

Senior Sebastian Mejia pitches during a Fall 2023 intrasquad game at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.

“I’m excited to see [the newcomers] play against other teams,” he replied. “I’ve seen them against ourselves and I really like what I see. I’m just fired up to watch them compete. … There’s some new ones and there’s some good ones.” 

Matlock highlighted several new players, including redshirt freshman catcher Rudy Gonzalez, graduate infielder C.J. Valdez and his brother, senior pitcher Tyler Valdez, and junior pitchers, right hander Francisco Hernandez and southpaw EJ Miramontes.

These new additions give some depth to a stout Vaqueros pitching staff. Last year’s staff was led by now senior starting pitcher Angelo Cabral. He figures to build off his performance last season where he led the WAC in ERA (3.22), striking out 76 batters and walking 22, and holding opponents to a .232 batting average in 77.2 innings pitched.

“The pitching [did] really well last year,” Cabral said. “I feel like this year it’s gonna be a lot stronger.”

Matlock mentioned his deep bullpen and his defense as the biggest strengths of the team going into the 2024 season.

“You’re gonna see a lot of velocity on the mound, and there’s more of them,” he said. “There’s some depth in there, you know, there’s eight guys fighting for the four starting spots. We got a good feel for our bullpen.

“… And you return two middle infielders like [Kade] York and [Isaac] Lopez, they’re both basically All-WAC defenders in the middle, it’s always exciting to be that good in the middle. And our catchers can really throw.”

York, a senior, slashed .305/.423/.412, with 3 home runs and 24 RBI in 56 games last season. His defense in the middle infield was crucial, with his fielding percentage last year standing at .964.

Lopez, a redshirt junior, slashed .304/.415/.500 in 2023, clubbing 9 home runs and driving in 34 in 55 games at second base. His defense, good for a .983 fielding percentage, earned him a spot on the All-WAC defensive team.

Lopez and the team look forward to the chance to compete against other teams this season.

“All fall, and even coming up pretty soon early spring, we’re gonna be competing against each other, and we’re gonna see how we respond against each other,” he said. “But once it comes to another team going on the other side of the dugout, it’s gonna be a dogfight, and that’s what our guys want.

“With our squad … we’re gonna be relentless. It’s gonna be fun to see when there’s another team in the other dugout. Stick that ball down their throats and see how it goes, man. It should be a dogfight.”

Fans coming to the UTRGV Baseball Stadium will also get to see the result of months of renovations over the offseason, with new seating and brand-new outfield walls being added. Ballpark renovations are expected to be completed before first pitch. 

Opening Day for the Vaqueros will be Feb. 16 against the University of Rhode Island at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium on the Edinburg campus. First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. The game will be a part of a 12-game homestand to open the campaign, with matchups against the University of Rhode Island, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and Austin Peay State University.