EDINBURG — UTRGV redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Kevin Stevens isn’t one to shy away from challenges.
He overcame a torn ulnar collateral ligament and tendinitis as a junior in high school, worked his way back from Tommy John surgery and earned a spot playing baseball for two years at Yavaipai College, a junior college in Prescott, Arizona.
Since transferring to UTRGV as a walk-on and redshirting the 2019 season, Stevens has been a force, becoming the No. 1 pitcher and Friday night starter the past two years.
He was voted the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the WAC’s 13 head coaches last week.
Stevens and the Vaqueros are set to make their 2022 debut with the Al Ogletree Classic, a three-game series against George Washington, at 7 p.m. Friday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium in Edinburg. Game 2 is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday with the series finale scheduled at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“He’s a walk-on, Tommy John guy coming from Arizona on no scholarship and comes in here and wins the Friday night spot, has a great COVID year (2020), then last year was outstanding, too,” UTRGV head coach Derek Matlock said. “He deserves (WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year), but like he and I talked about yesterday, it’s a preseason award — those aren’t the ones you pat yourself on the back for. It’s the postseason awards that matter; but he’s excited and he deserves it.”
While he’s proud to receive the preseason recognition, Stevens said it’s just another challenge for him to meet head on.
“I’m always a person that wants more. This is just the start of what I want. I accepted it, it was cool to be acknowledged as it, but I haven’t won anything … it’s up to me to go out and finish with it at the end of the year,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it puts any pressure on me or anything. I’m a person who likes challenges. It might put a little target on my back, but I’m ready for anything.
“It doesn’t add pressure. I’m just going to go out and do what I do every Friday.”
Stevens is fresh off earning All-WAC First Team honors after a sensational redshirt junior season in 2021. He posted a 7-4 overall record and a 3.17 ERA while striking out 97 batters in 93.2 innings pitched. He pitched three complete games and one shutout. In conference play, Stevens went 6-1 with a 2.02 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 62.1 innings pitched. He limited opposing hitters to a .174 batting average, and finished the year ranked second in the WAC in strikeouts, opponents’ batting average and innings pitched and third in ERA and wins.
After falling two wins short of being crowned 2021 WAC Tournament Champions and reaching an NCAA Regional, Stevens said the Vaqueros’ time to strike is now.
“Right now, the goal for everyone is to make it to a regional,” Stevens said. “We have the team to do it; I’ve been wanting to do it since last year. We fell a little bit short, but I feel like it’s our time to do it now.”
