UTRGV graduate student first baseman and left fielder Brandon Pimentel was named Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Hitter of the Week on Monday after a dominant performance at the plate for the Vaqueros.
Pimentel is the second Vaquero to earn National Player of the Week this season, as junior pitcher Angelo Cabral was named D1Baseball National Pitcher of the Week on February 27.
Pimentel hit .438/500/1.063 while leading the Vaqueros to a 2-1 week, going 7-for-16 with three home runs, one double, one walk, 11 RBI and six runs scored. Pimentel has now homered in five-straight games, the first Vaquero to do so since Freddy Rojas Jr. (’22) homered in six-straight games in March 2021 en route to back-to-back Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week awards.
Pimentel opened the week with a grand slam off the scoreboard in a 20-2 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday to help UTRGV clinch the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, Championship.
In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against Houston Christian, Pimentel hit a 2-run home run while going a season-best 4-for-5 with a double, a season-high tying four RBI and a season-high tying three runs scored in a 16-5 win.
In game two, Pimentel hit a 3-run home run as part of a 2-hit game.
For the season, Pimentel is hitting .361, which ranks 12th in the WAC and 183rd in the NCAA, and slugging .630, which ranks seventh in the WAC and 207th in the NCAA.
UTRGV is back in action at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on ESPN+.