The UTRGV baseball team held the first official practice of 2026 on Tuesday afternoon.

The Vaqueros began practice exactly one month out from the season opener, with their first game against Kansas set for February 13.

Over the next month, Vaqueros head coach Matlock put an emphasis on players competing for spots, particularly in the starting pitching rotation.

UTRGV's ace in 2025, Angelo Cabral, finished his final year of eligibility with the team last spring. That leaves the top spot in the rotation open and Matlock plans to take the next month to make the decision on who his 'Friday starter' will be in 2026.

"I think what you're going to see is guys starting to compete for positions," Matlock said of the plan for the next month. "We don't know who's going to play right now in some spots. It's just going to be a lot of competition, a lot of reps. Getting on the dirt, getting a bunch of ground balls, getting reps. They've been on break. They've been working."

Matlock also noted that the Vaqueros will be keeping a close eye on the outfielders as they compete for starting positions. He confirmed during an interview on Monday that the current plan is for Rocco Garza Gongora, who previously played at Oklahoma and Texas State, to start in center field. That leaves two outfield spots for Rene Galvan, Cameron Carter, Hank Warren, and Damien Whitfield (all of whom played in at least 30 games last spring).

Easton Moomau and Armani Raygoza are expected to be locked into the corner infield positions, with Thomas Williams and PSJA High graduate Diego Villescas likely patrolling the middle infield. Raygoza primarily spent time as the designated hitter in 2025, but Matlock mentioned Julius Ramirez is likely to take that spot which would move Raygoza into the field.

Catcher will be another position to watch, with Rudy Gonzalez, Andrew Taylor, and Chayton Fischer competing to take the position previously held by UTRGV graduate Steven Lancia. Gonzalez started seven games for the Vaqueros last spring and posted a batting average of .172 in 29 at bats.