Jose Rodriguez/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Baseball Team is soon to begin its 2026 season on Feb. 13. According to the head coach, the Vaqueros have been at work and finishing preparations in hopes to advance to the regional championship.
Head coach Derek Matlock said the team is “feeling pretty good about themselves” following its successful run in 2025.
“It’s a really confident group right now,” Matlock said. “You know, when you come off a championship, there’s a lot of confidence in the program.”
He said most of the team’s preseason preparations have been focused on building consistency and learning where each player fits, especially for those on the mound.
“No. 1 priority is you gotta get the pitch count up with your starting pitchers,” Matlock said. “You gotta find out who they are, who throws on what days … and, of course, the infielders [too] just getting a ton of reps, a ton of swings and getting their hamstrings in shape. [They do] those types of things to get ready for the opener.”
The Vaqueros’ 2025 season concluded with a fall to the University of New Orleans Privateers during the Southland Conference Championship, which prevented the team from advancing to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
“Getting done from last year … we know we were just short of a few games that we know we could’ve done better on,” said Nick Nolan, senior pitcher. “Going into this year, we know that if we can nip those issues in the bud and dominate in more games … we’re going to have better chances at making the big tournament that we wanted to.”
Falling short of the 2025 regionals motivated the team to put in the work during its offseason, according to Nolan.
“In the fall, it was very competitive,” he said. “Everyone showed up ready to work, knowing what we missed out on. And we didn’t want it to happen again.”
Matlock said entering regionals continues to be the team’s main goal.
“Win the [Southland Conference] Championship and get into regional–it’s really hard to do,” he said. “But that’s kinda where we’re trying to head.”
Senior pitcher Anthony Garcia said it is best the team acts with confidence rather than pressure.
“Our identity is ‘play loose’… knowing whatever we’re facing, we’re able to overcome,” Garcia said. “If you’re not ‘playing loose,’ then, you’re going to be falling behind to yourself. It’s just not fun as a ballplayer to be relying on stress and anxiousness.”
Nolan added he likes to pair the mentality of confidence with the drive to be competitive on the field.
“Our identity is to be relentless,” he said. “No matter what the score is … whether we’re up or we’re down … we’re still going to fight and win.”
In a Jan. 20 news release, Athletics announced it had sold 1,100 season tickets for 2026, the fourth year in a row the department has broken its record.
Matlock said the accomplishment is “exciting” and gave credit to the department for its contribution to reaching it.
“All the people that are involved in that stuff are just killing it, and that’s definitely a reflection of them,” he said.
For Nolan, the large crowds inspire the team to play its best, rather than a source of pressure.
“It’s a huge advantage, one that a lot of schools don’t have,” he said. “One of my favorite parts of last year was seeing how big the crowds got at the games. Seeing that many people come out and support us, it felt like it took the pressure off.”
As the season opener approaches, Matlock said consistency will ultimately be the deciding factor on the success against other teams throughout the season.
“We look at all our games the same,” the head coach said. “If we play like we can play, then, we feel very confident that we can beat everybody on our schedule. If we don’t … we’re going to lose. We just worry about us. What we can control and play to the best of our ability. That’s who we are.”
