Jasmin Espinosa UTRGV Baseball’s season officially starts on Feb. 13 against the University of Kansas Jayhawks but in preparation, the team had an alumni game last Saturday.
KVAQ-TV spoke to the team ahead of the alumni game. “I think the nation’s going to see what baseball in the valley is like,” said Derek Matlock, UTRGV Baseball’s head coach. “It’s going to be electric. It’s going to be big time energy and people are watching across the country and going, what is going on down south?
The alumni game is a scrimmage between the current play and past players.
Julias Ramirez, junior catcher and 1st baseman, said the alumni game would show him what to expect before the season opener.
“We’re excited to get in to see the alumni that are going to be in the game playing against us,” Ramirez said. “We’ve got a very tough lineup that we’re going to face, and some arms we are going to face. I think it’s going to prepare us well for, you know, Kansas and [I’m] very excited just to play against those guys, you know, some of my ex-teammates. And, that should be fun.”
Matlock said it’s exciting to get back into the routine of playing as the team prepares for its season opener.
“We’re getting ready for a big start against great power teams that are outstanding, and that’s what we like,” Matlock said. “That’s what we do it for and, but it’s exciting to go this weekend because we’re going in routine of 6:35 p.m. on Friday, 6:35 p.m. alumni game and then it 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. So, we’re going to get in script for that weekend before we actually open. When Kansas comes in, we’ve already been through it the week before.”
The Vaqueros’ first three-game series of the season will run from Feb. 13 through the 15 at the UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg.
Women’s Tennis serves up a win
After a tough start earlier in the season, UTRGV Women’s Tennis earned its first win, aiming for another victory Wednesday at the South Texas Showdown.
“We usually always do really well against Kingsville, and we were scared because we were down a couple players, but we just stayed calm and knew what we had to do and just took care of it on the court,” Junior Guliana Castelain said.
Castelain and sophomore Mariia Bakhtina had a strong showing Sunday, Feb. 1 against Texas A&M Kingsville.
The Vaqueros won with a score of 6-1.
Bakhtina scored 6-3 in her doubles match and 6-0 and 6-4 in her singles match and Castelain scored 6-6 and 2-1 in her singles match.
“It helps us with our confidence and seeing that everything that we’re doing on the court and off the court, fitness and everything is working,” Castelain said.
Bakhtina shares how important it was for her to communicate with her partner in order to succeed in their doubles match.
“It’s really important because we had some losses with my partner, so it was the first match we won in a while,” Bakhtina said. “So, it was so nice to win this match. So I’m really happy.”
The Vaqueros had matches against the University of New Mexico Friday Feb. 6 and against the university of Houston on Saturday Feb. 7.
Resulting in a 4-3 loss for Vaqueros against the University of New Mexico and a 7-0 loss against the University of Houston.
UTRGV Football’s 27 new players
Last Wednesday, Travis Bush, UTRGV Football head coach, announced the signing of 27 new players for this season.
Offensive line players such as Luis Balli from San Benito, long slapper player Agustin Renteria from Pharr and defensive line player Anthony Santoscoy are just some of high school signees to join the team.
“We are very selective and got guys want we turned some guys away but again, it’s about still finding the right guys to fit our culture, fit our mold, and finding those tough competitors that love to work and compete,” Bush said.
You can see more of the new players in action Saturday, April 11 in the Orange and White game at the Brownsville Sams Memorial Stadium.
