RIO GRANDE VALLEY – After narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament in 2025 despite an RPI of 43, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team took on a major challenge in 2026 – playing the 15^th-toughest non-conference schedule in the NCAA and earning more signature wins while finishing third in the Southland Conference.
 
UTRGV opened the season with seven-straight games against Big 12 competition, beating Kansas on opening night and coming within a hit of winning the series against a team that went on to host a super regional. UTRGV also took two out of three at Houston, giving UTRGV three Big 12 wins for the second-straight season and the third time during the Derek Matlock era.
 
Then, at the end of the season, UTRGV beat No. 6 Oregon State, an NCAA Regional Runner Up, and had a chance to sweep the two-game series. It was UTRGV's first-ever win over Oregon State.
 
"I think the best part of what we did with that schedule is we got exposed to the best teams in the country," Matlock said. "It did a lot for us to finish third in the league because we weren't afraid of anybody. We'd seen the best arms in the country. We got to the best arms in our league, and they really didn't intimidate us because we'd played such a hard schedule.
 
"Seeing the guys play the teams you see in regionals and super regionals – teams like Kansas – that's fun. We want to be one of those types of teams. That's what we're here to do. It's about the opportunity to do something big and put this school on the map."
 
UTRGV played well enough to finish with a top 100 RPI for the second-straight season, the first time that has ever happened in program history.
 
UTRGV tied for the Southland Conference lead in total players honored with all-conference awards with six, as Armani Raygoza became the first-ever two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year while earning first team honors alongside Rocco Garza Gongora (OF), and Julius Ramirez (DH). Easton Moomau (3B) and Kike Cienfuegos (RP) earned second team honors while Garza Gongora (CF) and Hank Warren (RF) were on the All-Defensive Team.
 
Raygoza became the program's all-time home run king (40) and RBI leader (138) while hitting 17 home runs for the second-straight season, tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history. For his efforts, Raygoza is the program's first player to compete in Cape Cod Baseball League in 34 years and fifth overall.
 
"What people need to understand about that second award is when you win it the first year, you have a target on your back, so pitching coaches are not going to let you beat them," Matlock said. "For Armani to do it again – that's special because everybody knows who he is and they weren't going to pitch to him. That was an exciting piece of the year – his ability to win the award in back-to-back years."
 
Garza Gongora hit 21 doubles, the second-highest total in program history, while playing flawless defense. His 55-game errorless streak is tied for 10^th in program history.
 
Warren played error-free defense over the final 84 games of his career, the second-longest errorless streak in program history.
 
"We had a really tough group that fought, played hard, and played through adversity," Matlock said. "When we got hit by injuries, guys stepped up in a big way. We had a few guys have really big moments – like on the mound with Carlos Vallejo before his injury and JC Gutierrez late in the year. There's a lot to be excited about and a lot of positives going into next season.
 
The season saw history off the field as well, as UTRGV hosted the first-ever home game on a national TV network, beating Southeastern on ESPNU on April 17.
 
The fans came out in force all season with a program record average attendance of 3,723, the 23^rd best in the NCAA, while drawing 74,465 fans across 20 dates, which ranked 36^th in the nation and second in program history. UTRGV welcomed a program record six crowds of 5,000+ during the season, including a program record 6,588 vs. Texas Tech on Feb. 17. UTRGV also had the largest weekend series crowd in program history vs. Kansas with 13,193 from Feb. 13-15. The Kansas series included the largest opening day (5,862) and Sunday (2,291) crowds in program history.

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