College Baseball Now

Derek Matlock, UTRGV Vaqueros

08.18.2017 - By Bill BallewPlay

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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on June 10 that Derek Matlock, who spent the last five years as the recruiting coordinator and pitching coach at West Virginia and the 19 years prior coaching in Texas, is the new head coach of the UTRGV baseball team.

“On behalf of the department of intercollegiate athletics, I want to welcome Derek and Michel Matlock to the UTRGV family,” UTRGV Director of Athletics Chris King said. “When we started this search, we were looking for someone with deep ties to the state of Texas that could recruit the best and brightest in-state. We also wanted someone with a proven pitching acumen, and we have found that in Coach Matlock. His philosophies on the student-athlete experience align with the vision, core values and purpose of our department. This is an exciting day for UTRGV Baseball.”

West Virginia is coming off its first NCAA Regional berth in 21 years after earning the first at-large bid in program history by going 36-26. In Matlock’s five seasons, West Virginia went 160-127 (.557) and made the Big 12 Tournament every year. Matlock recruited and coached five All-Americans and had six pitchers drafted, including three in the top 15 rounds of the MLB Draft. One of those pitchers was 2013 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Louisville Slugger All-American Harrison Musgrave, who is currently pitching at AAA Albuquerque after being selected by the Colorado Rockies in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

“I’m fired up for the opportunity to speak with and get to know all of our returning and incoming student-athletes,” Matlock said. “I’m also excited to work with such a strong administration and for the opportunity to be a part of the Rio Grande Valley community. It’s a great baseball area and I want to build a program of which the community can be proud.”

Matlock went to West Virginia after five years as the recruiting coordinator and pitching coach at Texas State, a program he helped guide to four straight Southland Conference Championships, marking the first conference championships in program history, and two NCAA Regional berths. Overall, Texas State went 219-136 (.617) during Matlock’s tenure, twice winning a program record 41 games.

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