RIO GRANDE VALLEY – For the first time in program history, the season for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) baseball team didn't end with a game, but with the team together in a meeting room watching the NCAA Tournament selection show on ESPN2.
 
Despite being featured three times during the show – twice with live look-ins and once with a highlight from the season – UTRGV did not hear its name called, and the Vaqueros' best season in over 30 years came to a close.
 
Head coach Derek Matlock immediately addressed the team while the UTRGV Athletics staff members on hand retreated to a different room in which they quietly tried to digest the disappointment of the day.
 
After addressing the team, Matlock came to speak to those staff members, and said, "hey, we've never even had the opportunity to watch the show before. That means we're making progress."
 
For a man who consistently speaks about the importance of making it back to the NCAA regionals, somewhere the program has been 13 times, but not since 1986, it was a remarkably positive outlook, and just what everyone needed to hear.
 
After all, it was an incredible season.
 
The Vaqueros won the Southland Conference Championship while finishing with a program record RPI of 43. The Vaqueros ranked No. 1 in the RPI from March 9-13 and in the top 25 from March 2-April 3. The Vaqueros received votes in two different top 25 polls, including during weeks 4-15 in the NCBWA poll and week 4-6 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and were ranked as high as 14^th in 11.7 College Baseball's mid-major power rankings.
 
The Vaqueros went 36-18 (.667), the team's most wins since 1991 (37) and highest winning percentage since 1987 (.667). The Vaqueros won a program record-tying 15 true road games and program record 16 games away from home, including a win over No. 20 Dallas Baptist at Globe Life Field and two wins at Texas Tech, all three of which were quad one wins at the time, in addition to wins at Houston, Rice, and Louisiana.
 
The Vaqueros pulled off this historic season while competing against the 83^rd toughest schedule in the nation, a program record since the metric started being tracked just over two decades ago. This includes a program record 67^th toughest schedule in non-conference play, helping the Vaqueros to finish a program record 33^rd in non-conference RPI.
 
The Vaqueros won a program record 22 conference games while tying the program record for conference winning percentage (.733) previously set in 1979 in a Southland Conference that ranked ninth in conference RPI. This includes winning a program record-tying 10 conference road games.
 
Seven players earned a Southland-high 13 All-Conference honors, including Player of the Year and All-American designated hitter Armani Raygoza as well as Newcomer of the Year and starting pitcher Víctor Loa. Both were first team selections along with catcher Steven Lancia and third baseman Easton Moomau. Shortstop Isaac Lopez, first baseman Jacob Sanchez, and second baseman Thomas Williams all earned second team honors while Lancia, Lopez, Moomau, and Williams were on the all-defensive team.
 
The Vaqueros were one of just three teams, along with Georgia Tech and North Carolina, with semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy (Raygoza), given to the best player in NCAA Division I, Buster Posey Award (Lancia), given to the best catcher, and Brooks Wallace Award (Lopez), given to the top shortstop, in addition to a pitcher on the national Pitcher of the Year Award watch list (Loa).
 
The Vaqueros ranked among the top 100 in the nation in 15 categories, ranking 18^th in fielding percentage (.979), 21^st in double plays per game (0.87), 26^th in hitting (.307), 34^th in double plays (47), 35^th in shutouts (4), 38^th in winning percentage (.667), 39^th in on-base percentage (.411), 44^th in scoring (8.0), 59^th in ERA (4.92) and sacrifice flies (28), 70^th in runs scored (431), 81^st in hits (564), 84^th in hits allowed per nine innings (9.17), 87^th in WHIP (1.51), and 96^th in walks (273). The Vaqueros also led the Southland in hitting (.307), scoring (8.0), and fielding (.979).
 
The .979 fielding percentage is the best in program history. The Vaqueros rewrote the record books in seven other categories as well, tying for third in saves (13), ranking fourth in runs scored (431) and RBI (390), fifth in hitting (.307) and strikeouts (439), and sixth in home runs (57) and doubles (99).
 
The Vaqueros got off to a 16-3 start, tied for the fifth-best in program history and best since 1979, and a 9-0 start in Southland play, the longest undefeated conference start in program history, breaking the record of 8-0 set in 2012. The Vaqueros won their first five conference road games for the first time in program history. The Vaqueros went on a pair of seven game winning streaks and won 10 of their final 13 games, allowing them to host Southland Conference Tournament bracket play as the No. 2 seed.
 
The fans came out to support this incredible team in big numbers, as UTRGV welcomed a program record 82,258 fans for 28 games across 26 dates, a program record average of 3,164 fans per date. UTRGV ranked 30^th among the 307 NCAA Division I baseball teams in average attendance and 34^th in total attendance during the 2025 season.
 
UTRGV welcomed four of the seven largest crowds in program history, eclipsing 6,000 three times, including a program record 6,537 for a game against Stephen F. Austin on April 12. Two of the aforementioned seven crowds were on Saturdays, including the March 22 game against Houston Christian University (6,324). The other two were on Tuesdays, as UTRGV drew 6,189 for a game against Texas State on May 13 and 5,111 for a game against Texas Southern on March 18.
 
UTRGV ranked 10^th in the nation in average Tuesday attendance (5,236), 21^st in average Saturday attendance (4,276), and 28^th in average Friday attendance (3,190).
 
UTRGV also had the seventh-best total attendance and average attendance outside the Power 4.
 
"Our crowds are special," Matlock said. "They're electric. That's a crowd that's in every pitch. They get after the other teams and there's no doubt they helped us win, especially at the end of games."
 
Catch Every Pitch
 
Season tickets for the 2026 baseball season are now on sale at GoUTRGV.com/SeasonTickets.
 
Fans who renew or purchase season tickets by Aug. 15 will receive a card for free popcorn at every home game.
 
Fans who renew or purchase season tickets by Sept. 19 will receive additional complimentary tickets (equal to the number of season tickets purchased) to home games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
Fans who renew or purchase season tickets by Oct. 17 will receive an autographed team photo. 

Fans renewing their season tickets before Oct. 17 will be placed in their same seats as last season with an opportunity to upgrade or change seats prior the start of the season. New season ticket holders will have the opportunity to select their seats before the start of the season.

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