UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball

Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
2024 Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team
University	University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Head coach	Derek Matlock (7th season)
Conference	Western Athletic Southwest Division
Location	Edinburg, Texas
Home stadium	UTRGV Baseball Stadium (Capacity: 4,000)
Nickname	Vaqueros
Colors	Orange and gray[1]
College World Series appearances
1971
NCAA Tournament appearances
1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986
Regular season conference champions
2019

The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team, or the UTRGV Vaqueros, is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, an NCAA Division I institution with several campuses in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, United States. UTRGV was formally founded in 2013 with the announced merger of the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA), with its main campus in Edinburg, and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) in Brownsville, with the merged university beginning operation in the 2015–16 school year. The Vaqueros compete in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), play home games at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg, and are coached by Derek Matlock.

Prior to the merger, UTPA competed in Division I as the Texas–Pan American Broncs,^[2] while UTB, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, had no baseball program. In 2014, the University of Texas System announced that UTRGV would directly inherit the UTPA athletic program, including UTPA's WAC membership.^[3]

The Broncs began play in 1955, with Jim Brooks (who had been athletic director since 1952) serving as head coach for the inaugural season. He led the Broncs to a 5–10 record. John Donnelly was hired prior to the next season, and he coached the team for two seasons, going 19–16. Red Connor took over in 1959, also coaching for just two seasons, going 24–15. Sam Williams (the coach for the basketball team) served as coach for the 1961 season, going 7–16. Earl Gartman, previously a coach for football and baseball at Howard (now known as Samford) was hired in 1962 (the same year that Pan-American had membership in both NAIA and NCAA Division II), coaching them for two seasons before leaving to serve as head coach for the high school football team at Los Fresnos, going 20–16.

In 1964, Chuck Young was hired to coach the team. In his first year, he led them to a 19–8 record while the team was invited to the NAIA playoffs. In the District 8 playoffs, they beat the University of Dallas in three games to advance to the Texas Championships against Sam Houston. They were swept in two games. The following year, he led them to a 16–10 record, with the team advancing to the playoffs once again. They swept Austin College and Texas Southern in two games each to advance to the Championships again. They were swept again by the Bearkats. The program began shifting to NCAA Division I along with the rest of the sports teams starting in 1965. In 1966, Larry Ensminger was hired to coach the team. He led them to winning seasons in each of his three years, with the last being an 18–12 season that led to the Broncs being invited to the 1968 NCAA University Division baseball tournament. They played Texas at the District 6 Finals in Austin, Texas. They were beaten in three games by the Longhorns.

In 1969, Al Ogletree was hired by Brooks to coach the team, going 24–11 in his first season. In 1970, he led them to the 1970 NCAA University Division baseball tournament, where they beat Arkansas State to get to the District 6 Finals, where the Longhorns beat them in two games. The following year was the best for the team in overall success. They went 44–9 while going to the 1971 NCAA University Division baseball tournament for the second straight year. They swept the two-game series against Texas, beating them 1–0 and 4–0 to advance to the College World Series for the first time in school history. Although they lost their first game to Southern Illinois, they managed to win the next two games in the Loser's Bracket over Seton Hall and Harvard to reach the Semifinals. They were beaten 8–6 by Southern Illinois. Notable players on the team include Wayne Tyrone and Jim Tyrone, with the latter hitting .349 in 52 games with 37 RBIs.^[4] Ogletree was named College Coach of the Year by both The Sporting News and the South Plains Professional Scouts Association.^[5] The appearance in the College World Series remains the only appearance for the team. The Broncs made the Tournament consecutively for the next five seasons from 1972 to 1976, with the 1975 team winning 63 games, although they were beaten by Texas in the South Central Regional Finals 9–2, with two losses in the Finals in other years also caused by Texas.

Tragedy struck the team on February 24, 1973, when Jody Ramsey was killed in an electrical accident while working on construction of the new baseball stadium being built for the team. The previous season, Ramsey (in his only season with the Broncs) had hit for .346 in 56 games, with 47 runs, 64 hits and 17 stolen bases while leading the team in numerous categories. Petitions from students to the Board of Regents led to the park being named after Ramsey, with 1974 being the first season that the Broncs began play in Jody Ramsey Memorial Stadium. His jersey number of 6 was taken out of circulation by Ogletree for the rest of his tenure as manager. The Broncs would play in the stadium from 1974 to 2000, with it being dismantled three years later to make way for an educational building.^[6][7][8]

After a lull in 1977, they were invited back to the Tournament in 1978, coming back two more times, although they failed to reach the Finals. The Broncs returned to the Tournament in 1983 after going 64–19–1, a program record for wins. In the Central Regional, they lost to Texas in the Semifinals, who went on to win the College World Series that year. Olgetree led them back to the Tournament in 1986 with a 42–19 record. In the Central Regional, they were beaten by Pepperdine 11–0, which sent them to the Loser's Bracket. They beat San Diego State 10–6 to survive a bit longer, but a loss to Texas 9–5 eliminated them from the Regional. As of 2018, this remains their final appearances in the NCAA tournament. In 1988, the Broncs joined the American South Conference, where they played for four seasons. Olgetree led the team to a 126–99 record over those years, but they went 24–28 in conference play. The Broncs joined the Sun Belt Conference in 1992. Ogletree coached the team for six more seasons, having low moments such as an 11–39 record in 1994 and 17–37 in 1995 along with going 48–95 in Sun Belt play over six years along with going 135–184, but he managed to lead them to a 30–22 record in 1997, a winning season for the first time since 1992 along with a 14–12 conference record, their first winning season in conference play. Ogletree retired after the season, having won over 1,000 games for the team. In his first twenty seasons (1969 to 1989), he led them to a season of .500 or better in each of those seasons, with only five losing seasons in 29 seasons of coaching.

Reggie Tredaway, former third baseman for the Broncs and assistant coach for the team, was hired to coach the team in 1998. In his first season, he led them to an 18–32 record, the fifth losing season in nine seasons. This was their last season in the Sun Belt. Tredaway led the Broncs to improvement in his next two seasons, going 30–23 and 31–19–1, but neither season resulted in postseason play. The team faltered in his next two years, going 12–40 and 15–38. He announced his retirement after the 2002 season.^[9]

In 2003, Willie Gawlik was hired as head coach. Gawlik, a former Bronc player from the 1971 CWS team, had served as coach at Texas Wesleyan (1996–2001) and Central Arkansas (2002) prior to the hiring. In six seasons at the helm with the Broncs, he never led them to a winning season, reaching a high of 24 wins (with 29 losses) in 2006 while having two seasons of under 20 wins, with a 40–138 record in road games. After a 21–35 season and amidst complaints from players over his coaching along with conflicts between coaches and players, the university decided to not renew his contract, while firing two assistant coaches. Gawlik has the third lowest winning percentage as coach of the program and the lowest for any coach that had coached more than one season.^[10][11]

In 2009, Manny Mantrana was hired as head coach. He had formerly served as head coach of St. Thomas University, coaching them from 1997 to 2008. In his first season, the Broncs went 14–41. Texas–Pan American moved to the Great West Conference after the season. The Broncs improved the following year, going 22–33 with a 9–18 conference record while finishing 6th in the eight team conference. In the 2010 Great West Conference baseball tournament, the Broncs lost to Northern Colorado 10–0 while beating their other two opponents (NYIT and NJIT), but the loss served as the tiebreaker, eliminating them from a bid in the Finals, which were held in the home stadium of the Broncs. The 2011 team faltered to a 21–32 record, the 11th straight losing season for the program.

The 2012 season proved to be a step up for the team, as they finished 30–22 with a 16–12 conference record, finishing 2nd in the conference behind Utah Valley (who won all 28 conference games). In the 2012 Great West Conference baseball tournament, they beat Chicago State 10–4 to get to the Second Round, but they were beaten by North Dakota 18–7 to fall to the Loser Bracket. A subsequent loss to Northern Colorado 14–13 eliminated the Broncs. They went 28–30 in the following year while going 17–10 in Great West play to finish 3rd. In the 2013 Great West Conference baseball tournament, they beat NYIT 7–6, but they lost 3–1 to Houston Baptist (the eventual champion), with a subsequent loss in the Loser Bracket to Chicago State knocking them out of the tournament. The conference soon dissolved, and the Broncs moved to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2014 season. Mantrana led them to a 27–30 record and a 17–10 conference record for a third-place finish. In the 2014 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament, the Broncs lost 9–2 in the Second Round to Utah Valley, with a 7–4 loss in the Loser Bracket to New Mexico State knocking them out of the tournament. The team tumbled in 2015, going 21–30–1 and 6–20–1 in WAC play to finish 10th. The Broncs became the Vaqueros after the season ended. He led the team to a 21–28 record in 2016 and 26–28 in 2017, finishing 8th each time in the WAC. On May 24, 2017, Mantrana stepped down as coach, while staying at UTRGV to serve as the Special Assistant to the athletic director.^[12]

In June 2017, UTRGV announced the hiring of Derek Matlock as the new head coach of the team. Matlock had previously served as recruiting coordinator and pitching coach for West Virginia for the previous five seasons, along with serving at the same position for Texas State from 2007 to 2012.^[13] On May 18, 2019, the Vaqueros clinched a share of the WAC regular season title, finishing 1st along with California Baptist and New Mexico State. UTRGV finished the regular season 34–19 with a 18–9 conference record. It is the first conference title of any sort since 1955, with the wins being the most in one season since winning 37 in 1991.^[14]

Results accurate as of the beginning of the 2023 season.^[15]

Season	Record (Conference record)	Pct.	Coach
1955	5–10	.333	Jim Brooks
1956	2–14	.125	John Donnelly
1958	17–2	.895	John Donnelly
1959	10–4	.714	Red Connor
1960	14–11	.560	Red Connor
1961	7–16	.304	Sam Williams
1962	7–9	.438	Earl Gartham
1963	13–7	.650	Earl Gartham
1964	19–8	.704	Chuck Young
1965	16–10	.615	Chuck Young
1966	15–10	.600	Larry Ensminger
1967	18–16	.529	Larry Ensminger
1968	18–12	.600	Larry Ensminger
1969	24–11	.686	Al Ogletree
1970	32–12	.727	Al Ogletree
1971	44–9	.830	Al Ogletree
1972	40–16	.714	Al Ogletree
1973	31–17	.646	Al Ogletree
1974	50–11	.820	Al Ogletree
1975	63–7	.900	Al Ogletree
1976	53–19	.736	Al Ogletree
1977	44–30	.595	Al Ogletree
1978	52–17	.754	Al Ogletree
1979	52–12	.812	Al Ogletree
1980	61–18	.772	Al Ogletree
1981	32–22	.593	Al Ogletree
1982	28–28	.500	Al Ogletree
1983	64–19–1	.768	Al Ogletree
1984	31–28	.525	Al Ogletree
1985	39–20	.661	Al Ogletree
1986	42–19	.689	Al Ogletree
1987	40–20	.667	Al Ogletree
1988	33–25	.569	Al Ogletree
1989	26–27	.491	Al Ogletree
1990	30–26	.536	Al Ogletree
1991	37–21	.638	Al Ogletree
1992	29–23	.558	Al Ogletree
1993	23–33	.411	Al Ogletree
1994	11–39	.220	Al Ogletree
1995	17–37	.315	Al Ogletree
1996	25–30	.455	Al Ogletree
1997	30–22	.577	Al Ogletree
1998	18–32	.360	Reggie Tredaway
1999	30–23	.566	Reggie Tredaway
2000	31–19–1	.618	Reggie Tredaway
2001	12–40	.231	Reggie Tredaway
2002	15–38	.283	Reggie Tredaway
2003	21–33	.389	Willie Gawlik
2004	22–31	.415	Willie Gawlik
2005	15–39	.278	Willie Gawlik
2006	24–29	.453	Willie Gawlik
2007	17–39	.304	Willie Gawlik
2008	21–35	.375	Willie Gawlik
2009	14–41	.255	Manny Mantrana
2010	22–33 (9–9)	.400	Manny Mantrana
2011	21–32 (10–8)	.396	Manny Mantrana
2012	30–22 (16–12)	.577	Manny Mantrana
2013	28–30 (17–10)	.483	Manny Mantrana
2014	27–30 (17–10)	.474	Manny Mantrana
2015	21–30–1 (6–20–1)	.413	Manny Mantrana
2016	26–28 (10–14)	.481	Manny Mantrana
2017	26–28 (7–17)	.429	Manny Mantrana
2018	23–31 (8–16)	.426	Derek Matlock
2019	34–21 (19–8)	.618	Derek Matlock
2020	11–7 (0–0)	.611	Derek Matlock
2021	32–26 (20–15)	.552	Derek Matlock
2022	33–25 (17–13)	.569	Derek Matlock
Totals		1,756–1,437–3	.550

UTPA had 35 Major League Baseball Draft selections from the start of the draft in 1965 until the 2015 merger that created UTRGV.^[16]

Broncs in the Major League Baseball Draft
Year	Player	Round	Team
1970	Tony Barbosa	16	Angels
1971	Jim Tyrone	7	Cubs
1972	Andre Rabouin	26	Reds
1972	Wayne Tyrone	20	Cubs
1975	Joe Hernandez	26	Cubs
1975	Rick Brockaway	21	Cubs
1979	Dan Firova	29	Brewers
1980	Alan Maria	18	Mets
1981	Carlos Hidalgo	27	Expos
1981	Lonnie Garza	7	Angels
1983	Scott Cannon	13	Angels
1983	Jim Hickey	13	White Sox
1983	Mitchell Moran	3	Dodgers
1984	William Wilson	25	Cardinals
1988	Mike Eckert	57	Yankees
1988	Albert Molina	36	Pirates
1988	Herb Erhardt	16	Yankees
1990	Sid Holland	45	Rangers
1991	George Williams	24	Athletics
1992	Tim Jones	18	Tigers
1992	Michael Eiffert	9	Rockies
1993	Rodd Kurtz	53	Cubs
1993	Marc Ottmers	5	Cardinals
1995	Chuck Cox	35	Phillies
1999	Jason Bottenfield	19	Red Sox
1999	Joey Cole	11	Mets
1999	Omar Ortiz	1	Padres
2000	Mike Cox	18	Mets
2001	Levi Frary	14	Rockies
2005	Mark Rodriguez	30	Reds
2006	Tim Haines	27	Mets
2006	Roberto Gomez	24	Cardinals
2012	Angel Ibanez	28	Astros
2013	Dusten Knight	28	Giants
2014	Sam Street	16	Pirates
2015	Logan Landon	10	Dodgers

Jose Garcia became the first player who played under the UTRGV name to be drafted. He was taken by the White Sox in 2017.^[17]

UTRGV has had twelve head coaches in its tenure.

Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
Jim Brooks	1955	5–10	.333
John Donnelly	1956–1958	19–16	.543
Red Connor	1959–1960	24–15	.615
Sam Williams	1961	7–16	.304
Earl Gartman	1962–1963	20–16	.556
Chuck Young	1964–1965	35–18	.660
Larry Ensminger	1966–1968	51–38	.573
Al Ogletree	1969–1997	1,083–618–1	.636
Reggie Tredaway	1998–2002	106–152–1	.409
Willie Gawlik	2003–2008	120–206	.368
Manny Mantrana	2009–2017	210–274–1	.434
Derek Matlock	2018–present	133–110	.547

Conference	Years
Independent	1963–1987, 1999–2009
Big State Conference	1955–1962
American South Conference	1988–1991
Sun Belt Conference	1992–1998
Great West Conference	2010–2013
Western Athletic Conference	2014–present

The Vaqueros (then known as the Pan American Broncs) have made the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship thirteen times, with one appearance in the College World Series. They have a combined record of 15–26, with a 2–2 record in the College World Series as of 2024.

Year	Region	Round	Opponent	Result
1968	District 6	Finals	Texas	L 0–3 W 2–1 L 6–10
1970	District 6	Semifinals Finals	Arkansas State Texas	W 5–0 L 2–3 L 3–4
1971	District 6 College World Series	Finals First Round Second Round Third Round Semifinals	Texas Southern Illinois Seton Hall Harvard Southern Illinois	W 1–0 W 4–0 L 4–5 W 8–2 W 1–0 L 6–8
1972	District 6	Semifinals Finals	Trinity Texas	W 6–1 L 0–1 L 1–2
1973	District 6	First Round First Round Second Round Final	Texas Arkansas Trinity Texas	L 1–7 W 4–2 (10 inn.) W 4–3 (10 inn.) L 12–14 (10 inn.)
1974	District 6	Semifinals	Louisiana Tech Texas	L 2–3 L 0–7
1975	South Central Regionals	First Round First Round Second Round Finals	South Alabama Louisiana Tech South Alabama Texas	L 7–8 W 8–1 W 9–8 L 2–9
1976	Midwest Regional	First Round	Arizona Texas A&M	L 0–5 L 1–2
1978	South Central Regionals	First Round Second Round Second Round	Louisiana Tech Baylor Mississippi State	W 7–0 L 2–3 L 5–7
1979	Central Regionals	First Round First Round	Texas Brigham Young	L 2–4 L 5–11
1980	Central Regionals	First Round First Round	Hawaii Texas	L 4–8 L 4–7
1983	Central Regionals	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round	Grambling State Northeastern Louisiana Mississippi State Texas	W 5–0 W 9–8 L 5–7 L 1–6
1986	Central Regional	First Round Second Round Third Round	Pepperdine San Diego State Texas	L 0–11 W 10–6 L 5–9

During their time in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the Vaqueros appeared in the NAIA Tournament twice. They went a combined record of 6–6.

Year	Region	Opponent	Result
1964	District 8 playoffs Texas Championships	Dallas Sam Houston State	L 0–1 W 4–3 W 7–4 L 4–7 L 2–11
1965	NAIA District 8 playoffs Texas Championships	Austin College Texas Southern San Houston State	W 11–0 W 6–2 W 14–1 W 8–3 L 1–3 L 2–3

UTRGV has retired two jersey numbers, with the latter being retired across all sports.^[18]

No.	Player
44	Al Ogletree
54	Lucious Jackson

• List of NCAA Division I baseball programs

• Official website