The UTRGV baseball team is riding a wave of momentum into this year’s Western Athletic Conference Tournament after sweeping Stephen F. Austin in a must-win situation last weekend.
The Vaqueros needed to win their three-game series against Stephen F. Austin in order to earn their way into this week’s WAC Tournament. UTRGV proceeded to blast 12 home runs across 24 innings to take all three games, outscoring SFA 44-9, and punched its ticket to the conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
Now, the No. 7-seeded Vaqueros (29-24, 15-14 WAC) open WAC Tournament play against No. 6 Texas-Arlington (26-27, 16-14 WAC) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona, the spring training home of the Oakland Athletics.
The winner between UTRGV and UT-Arlington (UTA) faces No. 2 Sam Houston at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The loser heads into an elimination game at 2 p.m. Wednesday against the loser between No. 5 Abilene Christian and No. 8 California Baptist.
“I think in the past, we’ve kind of tippy-toed in here not really knowing what to expect, but we’ve played for a championship once. It’s time to just take one game at a time, one inning at a time and just fight our way to the end of this thing,” UTRGV head coach Derek Matlock said.
UTRGV faced UT-Arlington in a three-game series in Arlington on April 28-30, losing the series 2-1. The Vaqueros took the middle game against the Mavericks with an 11-2 victory. UTRGV dropped Game 1 12-5 and Game 3 against UTA 8-7.
“I think it all comes down to starting pitching. (Angelo) Cabral has got to get off to a good start and get in routine and get some feel with his breaking ball and get going, and our offense has got to do what it’s done,” Matlock said. “We got to get in there and swing at strikes and compete.”
ALL-WAC BASEBALL HONORS
Three Vaqueros earned all-conference honors led by Pimentel, who was named to the All-WAC First Team and WAC All-Defensive Team.
Pimentel, who was named D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week and the WAC Hitter of the Week on Monday, is hitting .401 with 18 home runs, eight doubles, 69 RBIs, 48 runs scored and nine stolen bases. His 69 RBIs lead the WAC.
Pimentel powered his way atop the all-time home run leaderboard at UTRGV with 30 homers during his two years with the Vaqueros. His 18 this season is the third-highest single-season total in program history.
“It’s a blessing just being able to work with these guys everyday and for them to push me all year, so I’m happy for that,” said Pimentel. “I’ve just stayed with my process, being the same guy everyday and going to work with the same mentality.”
Junior pitcher Angelo Cabral earned a spot on the All-WAC Second Team. Cabral is 9-2 with a save and a 3.39 ERA. In 13 games (11 starts), Cabral has pitched 66 1/3 innings, striking out 71, while allowing just 58 hits and 19 walks. Opponents are batting .237 off him.
During WAC play, Cabral went 6-2 with a 3.93 ERA. In nine starts, he pitched 52.2 innings, striking out 48 while allowing 52 hits and 13 walks. Opponents hit .261 off him.
Edinburg Vela alumnus Isaac Lopez, a redshirt sophomore second-baseman, landed on the WAC All-Defensive Team.
This is the second-straight season in which Lopez is part of the WAC All-Defensive team after earning the honor as the starting shortstop last season.
During WAC play, Lopez posted a .978 fielding percentage, committing three errors in 139 chances while recording 45 putouts and 91 assists in 30 games as the starting second baseman. He was also part of turning 35 double plays.
Overall, Lopez posted a .986 fielding percentage, committing three errors in 217 chances while recording 76 putouts and 138 assists in 52 games. He was also part of turning 44 double plays.
“They deserve it and I’m excited for those kids. It’s a good representation for UTRGV baseball,” Matlock said.
McHI ALUM IMPRESSES IN FIRST DI START
McAllen High alumnus Abanny Garcia spent his freshman season with UTRGV in 2019 before transferring to play his next three years at Texas A&M-International, a Division II school in Laredo. He made his way back on the UTRGV baseball roster as a graduate student for the 2023 season and made a statement in his first Division I start of his collegiate baseball career.
Garcia started Game 2 for UTRGV against Stephen F. Austin this past Friday and struck out five while allowing just one run off three hits and two walks across seven innings. The Vaqueros won the game 15-1 in seven innings by 10-run rule, giving Garcia his first career win at the Division I level.
He’s struck out 16 in 22 innings pitched this season and holds a 3.68 ERA.