RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The sun shined through the clouds on this warm afternoon as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team took the field as a full team for the first time this spring Friday with 21 days till opening weekend.
Head coach
Derek Matlock spoke with the team on the field before practice was scheduled to start and told his team to not put pressure on themselves because this is a game and they should be having fun. He then added, when they win the WAC, they will be having a lot of fun.
Day in and day out, the goal for Matlock is to go out, compete hard, and win the WAC regular season and tournament championships. Today marks the start of a grueling 113-day stretch that will see the Vaqueros play 55 games leading up to the WAC Tournament.
"You stay bound to the process of your master plan," Matlock said. "You don't come off of it. You don't let guys throw more than they should. You just keep them in the process and stay healthy."
The Vaqueros started today's practice with baserunning drills and pickoff situations. A focal point for Matlock was communication on-the-field. This is important for every team, but especially one with a mix that is about 50/50 split between returners and newcomers.
Among the returners, the shortstop-second base duo of
Kade York and
Isaac Lopez bring valuable experience to an infield that lost both their first and third basemen from 2023.
"If you can stay the same on defense, it always helps you," Matlock said. "Especially, in the middle because it's so hard to find those type of players and we've got multiple."
Lopez hit .321 with nine home runs, 10 doubles, and 34 RBI in 55 games, all of which he started at second base. Lopez earned WAC All-Defensive Team honors as he finished the year with a .983 fielding percentage.
York started in all 56 games at shortstop last season, batting .305 with 13 extra-base hits, 24 RBI, and a .964 fielding percentage. This duo helped the Vaqueros finish in the top 20 nationally in both double plays per game at 0.91 (17
th) and double plays with 51 (18
th).
Practice today ended with a short intrasquad scrimmage that allowed the team to experience their first live reps since the end of fall practice.
Matlock praised the pitching staff when asked about what excites him for this upcoming season. The Vaqueros are expected to get an added boost with the return of senior
Alex Havlicek and junior
Jack Quinn who, missed last season due to injury and have performed well for the Vaqueros in the fall and spring.
"The depth of the pitching staff is pretty exciting," Matlock said. "There's a lot of them, and I think we can find the group of guys that can be consistent. I'm pretty excited about the consistency of this group. There are a lot of hard throwers."
UTRGV Baseball Stadium received a facelift this offseason as enhancements including the new chairback seats, the brick backstop, the new walls extending down the left and right field foul lines and all around the outfield, and the pristine home run club seating right behind home plate gives fans an upgraded experience for enjoying UTRGV baseball.
The new UTRGV Home Plate Club features breathable mesh seats, a drink rail, and ample leg room. In addition to an excellent field level view, fans can enjoy waitstaff taking food and beverage orders so fans can catch every moment of each game. Seats are available in sets of two or four for $750 per seat ($250 for one ticket plus a $500 V Club donation)
The Vaqueros will open the 2024 season with a four-game series against Rhode Island on Feb. 16. Fans can purchase season tickets online at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets or by contacting the UTRGV ticket sales and operations team of
Eddie Galvan (956-665-3415) and
Ryela Rodriguez (956-665-3747) over the phone or through email at
tickets@utrgv.edu.
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