Mykel Del Angel/THE RIDER
With the regular season coming to an end, the UTRGV Baseball Team is looking to solidify their place in the postseason during a point where each win matters, according to the head coach.
As of press time Thursday, the program sits in the middle of the standings at 14-13 for conference play, and a season overall of 20-25, according to the Southland Conference’s website.
Head coach Derek Matlock said with the team placed where it currently is, making the conference tournament is not an automatic guarantee.
“We’re sitting, I think in fifth place,” Matlock said. “I know with 16 wins, we’re in [the Southland Conference Tournament] … so we gotta focus on winning the [next] series.”
The Vaqueros faced the University of Incarnate Word on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in their last SLC regular season series. As of press time, results were unavailable.
According to Matlock, the team has been tense this season, which he finds weird but still remains confident in its ability to finish the season strong.
“We’ve definitely played with a lot of pressure all year, ” he said. “But we have a great team and, if we show up when it matters, we can beat anybody in the country. I really believe that.”
Matlock said the team has also been “up and down” at times during the season. While the offense has proven its ability to compete with some of the “best arms” they’ve faced, other aspects still have room to improve.
“Our offense is our offense, and they’re going to be just as good as anybody,” he said. “We gotta pick up the pitching and the defense, and that can really take us to a new level.”
The head coach added he feels the component that has been lacking is “consistency.”
“We need some pitchers to do a little bit better job,” Matlock said. “We need them to step up there and do it. They definitely have the ability to do it, but they just haven’t done it consistently.”
He said, however, the team has started “moving in the right direction” lately. Matlock credits redshirt junior infielder Armani Raygoza and junior infielder Easton Moomau for taking leadership and playing a part in making it happen earlier in the month.
“They had a team meeting after the first two losses at Stephen F. Austin [State University],” he said. “After that … we won the Sunday game, and I think we won every series since.”
Matlock added the Vaqueros have gotten better at responding to playing under pressure, listing the recent series against McNeese State University (2-1) as an example.
“We lost the leads … then, we came back and won the game both times to win the series,” he said. “We’re pretty tough and gritty. We’ll fight to the end.”
As the team gears up to finish its regular season strong and qualify for the SLC championship tournament, Matlock said he is looking beyond that.
“Our whole focus, every game and the schedule we put together is for one reason: to get us prepared to win a conference tournament and get into the [NCAA] regional,” the head coach said. “That goal that we want is still right there to grab.”
