RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team learned on Tuesday that senior pitcher
Angelo Cabral is a Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) honoree as voted on by the WAC head coaches.
Additionally, UTRGV was picked to finish sixth in the 11-team WAC.
An American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-Central Region Second Team and All-WAC Second Team honoree last year, Cabral led the WAC and ranked 61
st in the NCAA in ERA (3.22).
He also led the WAC and ranked 10
th in the NCAA in victories, going 10-2, making him UTRGV's first 10-game winner since
Sam Street went 12-2 as a senior in 2014. Street was 10-3 as a junior in 2013.
Cabral ranked 94
th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in WHIP (1.18), 131
st in the NCAA and eighth in the WAC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.45), and 139
th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in hits allowed per nine innings (7.93).
Cabral earned D1Baseball National Pitcher of the Week, Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week nominee, and WAC Pitcher of the Week honors after racking up career-high 15 strikeouts in 6.1 scoreless innings of two-hit, two-walk ball to beat Central Michigan on Feb. 24.
UTRGV received 59 points in the preseason coaches' poll, five ahead of Sacramento State (54) and nine behind UT Arlington (68).
Grand Canyon was picked to threepeat as WAC Champion, earning nine first place votes for 99 points. Utah Valley was picked second with one first place vote and 75 points. California Baptist received the remaining first place vote and 74 points. Abilene Christian was picked four with 70 points.
Seattle U was picked eighth with 39 points, followed by Tarleton State (34), Stephen F. Austin (19), and Utah Tech (16).
UTRGV opens the 2024 season on Friday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. with game one of a four-game series against Rhode Island. The full season schedule can be found at
GoUTRGV.com.
Season tickets, mini plans, and single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets or by contacting the UTRGV ticket sales team of
Eddie Galvan (956-665-3415) and
Ryela Rodriguez (956-665-3747) over the phone or through email at
tickets@utrgv.edu.
2024 WAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Grand Canyon (9) |
99 |
| 2. |
Utah Valley (1) |
75 |
| 3. |
California Baptist (1) |
74 |
| 4. |
Abilene Christian |
70 |
| 5. |
UT Arlington |
68 |
| 6. |
UTRGV |
59 |
| 7. |
Sacramento State |
54 |
| 8. |
Seattle U |
39 |
| 9. |
Tarleton State |
34 |
| 10. |
Stephen F. Austin |
19 |
| 11. |
Utah Tech |
16 |
2024 WAC Preseason Players of the Year: Daniel Dickinson, So., INF, Utah Valley
Mitchel Simon, Sr., INF, California Baptist
2024 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Daniel Avitia, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
2024 Preseason All-WAC Team
C – Michael Carpentier, Sr., California Baptist
1B – Zach Yorke, So., Grand Canyon
2B – Daniel Dickinson, So., Utah Valley
3B – Mitchel Simon, Sr., California Baptist
SS – Matthew Schwarz, Sr., Utah Valley
OF – Miller Laudusau, Sr., Abilene Christian
OF – Cade Verdusco, Sr., Grand Canyon
OF – Garrison Berkley, R-Jr., UT Arlington
DH – Cesar Valero, Sr., Sacramento State
SP – Daniel Avitia, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
SP – Angelo Cabral, Sr., RHP, UTRGV
RP – Zach Poe, Sr., RHP, Tarleton State
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